A Fresh Start
by poisonlacecookies
Summary: This is the sequel to A Genius and The Girl of His Dreams. So you should probably read that first. Reid and Natalie want to move on with their lives, but can they manage to move on without falling apart. Surprises and Fluff. Reid/OFC
1. Paperwork and A Sore Shoulder

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds. It belongs to CBS. I do however own my characters.**

**This is the sequel to A Genius and The Girl of His Dreams. You really should read that first. You will be completely lost if you don't.**

**Please do review and tell me what you think.**

Chapter One: Paperwork and A Sore Shoulder

Spencer Reid couldn't help but to flinch as he felt Morgan pat his shoulder once again. He glared up at Morgan when he spoke up "So Reid hows that shoulder doing"?

To tell the truth it still hurt a bit. The doctor had told him that it would be a little sore for a while.

He'd probably feel much better if people quit asking him how it was. This was about the fifth time someone had asked him that. Of course he knew they were only doing it because they cared, but after a while he'd like to think that they'd get it that he really was just fine.

"It's fine". He stated not really wanting to elaborate since he was much more focused on getting his things together so he could go home.

He had been stuck at desk duty. Mainly because he still hadn't had a chance to have his physical or his psych evaluation yet.

Yes he knew it was mandatory that he have it done considering what he'd gone through. He still completely dreaded it though.

He had finally gathered up all his belongings before Morgan spoke up again "Are Natalie and you going out with us this weekend. I mean I'm sure we'd all like to get to know her without it having to be for a case".

He really didn't think she was all that ready to go out quite yet. She was still trying to adjust and attempt to get her life back to normal, and she still seemed a little uneasy around strangers. Not that he blamed her. He was sure if he'd been through exactly what she went though then he'd feel the same way.

"I don't know. I'll have to talk to her about that". He stated deciding that was the best answer for now.

He finally made it to the elevator feeling more than ready to get home.

* * *

He finally made it to his apartment complex going up to the third floor and entering his apartment. His apartment was currently a mess right now. Mainly because they had moved all of Natalie's things into his apartment.

His apartment was now a maze of boxes and furniture. They had already determined that they would probably have to find a bigger apartment.

He managed to make it to the coffee table dropping his mail and his messengers bag off on it before started to make his way towards the bedroom

He wasn't surprised to see that Natalie had fallen asleep on the bed with her laptop open in front of her.

She'd been completely exhausting herself over the past few days. She had inherited the antique store from her boss. She had only inherited it because Mrs. Richards was a widow who didn't have any living relatives. Natalie had spent the past few days trying to get everything in order.

She had decided that she wanted to work from home. She wouldn't say why she had made this decision, but he already had a good idea of why she didn't want to go back to that store. He knew she still hadn't forgiven herself for her bosses death, and part of him was sure that she never would.

She was having a difficult time really adjusting to life after her stalking. She really didn't feel comfortable by herself and she didn't like having to talk to anyone she didn't know.

Even though Alex Matthews was now dead she was still frightened. She had become slightly paranoid that it could happen again. Yes she knew that this was a unreasonable fear, but she still feared it.

He managed to sit down on the bed hoping that he wouldn't wake her, but he failed. She turned around opening her eyes before speaking up drowsily "Your home".

He nodded his head as he leaned over and kissed her forehead. She spoke up still half asleep "How was your first day back"?

"It would've been better if I wasn't stuck doing paperwork all day long. I'm supposed to have my psych evaluation Friday though. So I should be allowed to do field work again. Oh and Morgan had plenty to say about my shoulder and my vacation". He stated as he laid down.

She raised her eyebrows smiling a little "Did you bring up the fact that he was knocked out while you were being shot in the shoulder"?

He rolled his eyes slightly "No I guess I should have though".

She leaned over and kissed his cheek softly before she spoke up "I spent all day on and off the phone trying to sort everything out at the store. I think I've decided who I want to make the manager though".

He nodded his head knowing that she had decided to make someone manager so they could keep an eye on the things going on inside the store.

She spoke up again sighing "I think were going to go out of business though. No one wants to step in that store after what happened".

He nodded his head understanding what she meant. "It'll work out honey".

"I hope so". She stated laying back down.

"Hey did you know that honey is the most commonly used term of endearment". He stated hoping that he could change the subject.

She rolled over looking at him before smiling slightly "I know Spence. You've only told me that like three times".

He blushed realizing that he had in fact told her that three times "Sorry I forgot".

She giggled slightly before speaking up "I never thought I'd see the day that Dr. Reid forgot something".

"Everyone forgets things". He stated blushing even more.

She smiled shaking her head "I know I was joking. I'm pretty sure you know the exact meaning and origin of jokes".

He returned her smile before kissing her lips softly. She was right he did.


	2. Packing Boxes and A Phone call

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Chapter Two: Packing Boxes and A Phone Call

Spencer raised his eyebrows as he heard Natalie curse under her breath. Apparently she'd stubbed a finger placing one of his books into the card board box that she was currently filling up.

"Are you sure that you don't want my help"? He stated still watching her.

She looked up at him blushing when she realized that he'd seen her mini temper tantrum. Hey she couldn't help it. Her boyfriend had a lot of heavy books and they hurt if you jammed your finger with them.

"Spence you know the doctor said to take it easy. So that means no packing anything and besides you don't want to hurt yourself before your physical right"? She stated raising her eyebrows.

He rolled his eyes slightly. Why did she always have to be right and why did she have to be so stubborn? Then again he kind of liked how stubborn she was. "I want to help though".

She giggled slightly looking amused at the way he was carrying on. "Sweetheart I'm sorry, but do you know how long it takes you to pack anything? I mean when you insisted on helping me pack up the things at my house it took you forever. You triple wrapped all my dishes in newspaper, even the plastic ones".

He blushed as he remembered this. It really wasn't his fault. He just didn't want any of her things to be broken. After all some of the nicer dishes she owned had been in her family for years. Some of her plates had been her great great grandmothers and she was really neurotic about anything happening to them.

He sighed finally realizing that she wasn't going to let him get his way. He glanced down at the magazine that he was flipping through before he'd been distracted by her.

He looked up again when she spoke up "So am I not going to able to see this place until the day we move"?

He grinned shaking his head "No honey. It's a surprise, and if I showed it to you then it would ruin the surprise".

She rolled her eyes as she heard this "Spence I hate surprises".

"Too bad. I'm still not telling you anything. You can wait two weeks to see it". He stated as he stared back down at his magazine.

He could admit that he couldn't wait to see her face when she saw the new house for the very first time. He could also admit that he was very proud of himself for picking it out all by himself.

The house he'd picked out was kind of a fixer upper, but it was in a pretty nice neighborhood. He'd been sure to pick out a house that was in a good school district and near a hospital. Morgan had made fun of him for being so picky when he'd caught him flipping through a real estate magazine at work. He couldn't help it though. He wanted it to be perfect or at least as close to perfect as possible.

He was sure that she'd love the house. It was just the right size for them. It was two stories. It had a big basement, a pretty decent sized kitchen, a dining room, a living room, two bathrooms, three bedrooms, and a nice backyard.

Yes he knew that it might be a little bit too big, but he kind of liked the idea of having all the room. And the price wasn't too horrible considering it needed some work done on it. The wallpaper was faded and peeling in some places and the carpet needed to be replaced. He was sure that the backyard needed a little bit of work too.

He frowned when he heard the phone ring. He sighed reluctantly getting up from the couch before he made his way over to the phone picking it up.

He raised his eyebrows as he heard Morgan's voice. Yes he knew Morgan had his phone number, but the only time he called him was when they had a case and Spencer had slept though his cell phone ringing.

He spoke up hesitantly "What are you doing calling me? We don't have a case right"?

"No we don't. I was just wondering if Natalie and you were going out with us tomorrow? It is Friday and I thought that you two needed some time out"?

He sighed glancing over at Natalie to see that she was now taping a box up and getting ready to move on to another one.

"I don't know. I mean I haven't really talked to her about it yet". He stated not sure if she would feel that up to going out.

"Okay whatever Reid. Just tell me at work tomorrow rather you going or not".

He nodded his head feeling slightly dumb considering Morgan obviously couldn't see him nodding his head. "Okay I will".

He finally hung up the phone heading back over to the couch before he sat down. He stared up at Natalie seeing that she was placing more of his books into the box.

She frowned not looking up at him "I swear Spence you have so many books its not even funny".

He raised his eyebrows speaking up "I do not".

"Oh yes you do my dear. Trust me you have enough books to put the public library to shame". She stated giggling.

She stopped giggling when she looked up at him seeing that he was starting at her. "Is there something wrong"?

He shrugged knowing that he would have to bring Friday night up. "Morgan called. He wants to know if we want to go out with everyone Friday night"?

She nodded speaking up "Everyone as in your co workers"?

He swallowed the lump in his throat "Yeah I told him I would talk to you about it first. I mean it'll be everyone but Gideon, and maybe Hotch. They usually don't go out with us".

"I'd like to go. It sounds fun. It'll kind of be a way to celebrate you passing your psych evaluation". She stated placing yet another book into the box.

He raised his eyebrows hearing this. "I won't know if I pass until Monday or Tuesday".

She rolled her eyes as she got up and sat down beside him "You'll pass. Trust me I know".

She kissed his lips softly before getting back up and heading back to his bookshelf. Maybe she was right he would pass.


	3. Snow Storms and A Night Out

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Chapter Three: Snow Storms and A Night Out

Natalie sighed as she glanced back at Spencer. He was currently strolling along behind her clutching his brown wool coat closed as though it would fall off if he let go of it for one second.

"Come on Spencer it's not that bad". She stated smiling as she looked up at the darkened sky letting a few snow flakes fall on to her face.

Spencer raised his eyebrows when he heard this. She was insane completely and totally insane. She had to be. After all she was walking around with her favorite pair of rainbow print fingerless gloves and a black coat that looked way too thin for this weather.

It had snowed the night before so the streets were now icy, the air was freezing, and the ground was completely covered with thick snow. To make matters worst they'd had to park a block away from the bar being that there seemed to be no free parking places in the bar's parking lot.

He sighed shaking his head as he managed to pull his purple scarf tighter around his neck "Are you out of your mind.? It's not supposed to be this cold, and I know it's defiantly not supposed to snow. It's only November".

She smiled wondering how it was that her boyfriend could be so moody when it was so pretty outside. "Didn't you watch the weather last night? They said that temperatures had dropped so low that it was going to snow. It's really not that bad".

"No I didn't watch it. I went to bed early remember? It's really not my fault that your body temperature is abnormal". He stated finally catching up to her.

She playfully glared at him before speaking up "That is so mean. What kind of man calls his girlfriend abnormal"?

He raised his eyebrows "The type of man that has a girlfriend who thinks that it's a good idea to wear fingerless gloves and take slow walks in the middle of a snow storm".

She managed to lean up before she kissed his cold cheek. "Just enjoy the weather Spence. I promise I'll make some nice hot coco when we get home...and if your really nice I'll do a little something extra to make sure you stay warm".

He felt his cheeks slowly turn hot and pink as she made this statement. Thank God that she hadn't said that in front of Morgan. He would never hear the end of it if Morgan ever heard her say something like that.

They finally made it inside the bar before Spencer noticed everyone and led Natalie over to the table. He pulled her chair out for her ignoring the amused looks that his pulling out her chair raised from his coworkers.

He finally sat down and reluctantly pulled off his coat thankful that it seemed to be warmer in the bar than it was outside. Then again it probably helped that he was wearing a long sleeved shirt and a sweater under his coat.

He couldn't help but to shake his head when he saw Natalie remove her coat and gloves. She was wearing a simple short sleeved blouse under her coat.

Morgan was the first to speak up as the couple sat down "So can I get you two something to drink"?

Natalie raised her eyebrows before speaking up "Can I please just have a Shirley temple"?

Spencer wasn't surprised to hear her say this. In the back of his mind he wondered if he should say the same thing. He then decided that requesting a drink that was sterotypically drank by women and children might sound a little odd. He swallowed the lump in his throat speaking up "A coke please".

Morgan rolled his eyes at Spencer's typical response when they went to bars, before he spoke up "Okay then".

Spencer wasn't very surprised that Natalie didn't want alcohol. He knew why. It was because of her mother. Natalie's mother had been a heavy drinker long before she'd divorced Natalie's father. Natalie had once confessed to Spencer when they were 16, that she was scared that she would become an alcoholic like her mother.

He knew that she could never be anything like her mother though. After all Natalie was way too sweet and kind to be anything like that women. She was more like her father than anything else. He knew that the fact that she was so much like her father was what made her mother so hateful towards her. Her mother usually only treated her badly when she was drunk, but then agian Natalie's mother was always drunk.

Natalie had never really told her father about the way her mother treated her when she did bother to show up for visitations or take her on holidays. Spencer had tried several times to get Natalie to tell, but she'd always refused. It had killed him every time she refused to tell.

He knew that he was the only one that could protect her from her mother. After all her brother was already out of the house by this point and her father was clueless to his ex wife's treatment toward Natalie. Spencer was all she had back then.

She used to come all the way from her mother's house to his house in the middle of the night when she was supposed to be sleeping at her mother's house. He would always let her in and she would always sleep in his bed and then leave the next morning before he had to get up and take care of his mother. She told him that she wanted to stay with him because she was scared of her mother.

He knew that her relationship with her mother was part of the reason he was so protective of her. Well that and the stalking of course.

Spencer jumped slightly being taken out of his thoughts as he felt Natalie's hand on his knee. He glanced over at her to see her giving him a worried look. She spoke up barley above a whisper "Are you okay sweetheart? You look pretty dazed".

He swallowed the lump in his throat before he spoke up whispering "Yeah honey I'm fine".

It didn't take very long for Morgan to come back with Spencer and Natalie's drinks. Morgan spoke up as soon as Spencer took a sip from his drink. "So Reid how did your physical go"?

He raised his eyebrows at the way Morgan said the word physical. "It was fine. My physical and my psych evaluation went just fine".

Morgan raised his eyebrows getting that Spencer obviously didn't want to talke about this. JJ spoke up looking over at Natalie "So Spence says your moving"?

"Yeah we are, but Spencer's forbidden me from seeing the house yet". Natalie stated giving Spencer a teasing look.

He rolled his eyes as she made this statement. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

By the time they had made it back to Spencer's apartment he was shivering. It was all Natalie's fault. After all she was the one that had talked him into playing in the snow in front of his apartment complex. By talking him into it he meant that she had laid down on the snow and then pulled him down with her.

He was sure that if anyone had seen them they'd think that they were completely out of their minds. After all they were rolling around in the snow and making snow angels at eleven thirty at night.

He gave Natalie the best possible evil glare that he could give her before she smiled "Oh come on Spence you know you had fun".

He raised his eyebrows as she made this statement. She was right he did have fun. He'd gotten to really act like a kid which rarely happened.. He was cold though.

She reached down grabbing his hand as he took his scarf off. "Do you think we can skip the hot coco for now. I was thinking that we could you know do that other thing I promised".

He couldn't help but to smile as she said this. He couldn't wipe the smile off his face as she lead him back towards his bedroom. If this was what she wanted to do when it snowed then he hoped that it snowed more often.


	4. Feels Like Home

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Chapter Four: Feels Like Home

Spencer frowned as he stopped at yet another red light. He glanced over at Natalie before speaking up "Don't open your eyes yet okay".

She smirked as she heard him make this comment. It wouldn't really do her any good to open her eyes. He had insisted on blindfolding her with one of his many ties before they'd left the house.

She somehow managed to reach across the armrest and find his free hand before she spoke up getting slightly frustrated. "How much longer Spence"?

He smiled speaking up as the light finally changed "Soon. You'll see everything soon".

She frowned wishing that she could at least see where they were going, but no Spencer just had to blindfold her. He knew how much she hated surprises. She was way too curious for surprises.

Spencer had seemed so excited about surprising her though. So she had decided to just go with it. She could admit that the anticipation of seeing the house was killing her.

She really couldn't imagine what type of house Spencer would have picked out.

She had tried time and time again to get him to break down and just show her the house, but he never went for it.

"Well where exactly did you move us? It feels like we've been driving forever". She stated turning her head hoping that he was looking at her.

He shook his head slightly before squeezing her hand. "Honey we've only been driving for fifteen minutes".

She let out an annoyed sigh as she heard this. She frowned as he let go of her hand. She felt him reach down and pat her knee. "Patience darling".

She sighed placing her hand on top of his as she started to feel it move up towards her thigh. "No sir. I think you might be enjoying this whole me being blindfolded thing a little bit too much".

"Your no fun". He stated smiling. It wasn't like he was really planning on doing anything anyway.

He already knew a bit too much about the statistics of the causes of car wreaks, and he was an over cautious driver because of this.

She managed to take his hand in hers. She frowned wishing that they would just get there already.

Spencer had already driven the moving van over the new home this morning. They had just decided to rent a moving van mainly because it would be easier to just unload all their things themselves. At least there was a lesser chance of something getting broken. And Natalie could admit that the idea of hiring movers frightened her a little giving her past experience.

The snow from the previous week had finally melted so now all that was left were big dirty puddles that seemed to be everywhere. It was still cold out which Spencer was less than thrilled with. Natalie seemed to love it though.

She'd always wanted to live someplace cold. Mainly because Spencer's and her childhood in Las Vegas wasn't exactly the best place for snow.

She raised her eyebrows as she felt the car come to an abrupt stop. "Are we there yet"?

He glanced over at her nodding his head "Yeah but keep the blindfold on".

She rolled her eyes as she felt his hand leave hers and heard his car door shut. It wasn't long before she heard her car door open letting the cool air inside the car. She let out a sigh of relief at the feeling.

Spencer turned up the heater in his car probably as high as it could go and if she even made an attempt to turn it down or roll down a window, he'd start wining about how cold he was getting.

She felt his hand slide around her waist and unbuckle her seatbelt. He took both of her hands in his helping her out of the car. She rolled her eyes as he did this. "Spence this is really sweet but I'm not completely helpless you know".

"Yeah I know. The driveways got a few puddles in it and I don't want you to step in them". He stated as he shut the door behind her.

"Then take the blindfold off". She stated as she felt him stand behind her and make an attempt to lead her forward.

She walked and prayed that Spencer wouldn't let go of her. Thats all she needed was to fall flat on her face. She finally felt him put his hands on her waist stopping her. "Can I take it off"?

He rolled his eyes as he managed to reach up and untie his tie from around her eyes. She opened her eyes giving herself a few minutes to adjust to the sunlight. She almost dropped her jaw at the sight before her.

It was perfect. It was pretty simple looking. It looked a lot like all the other houses on the block.

Red brick with a nice cement driveway. The yard was well taken care of, and it looked like the front door was brand new. It had nice wide windows. She could see that the backyard looked quite large as well.

Spencer swallowed the lump in his throat fearing that her silence meant that she didn't like it. "So what do you think.

He was completely taken by surprise as she turned around and embraced him in a tight hug. She managed to pull back from the hug after what seemed like forever. "Oh Spence I love it".

He let out a sigh of relief as she said this. "Really"?

She smiled nodding her head "Yeah I really love it. It's ours right? I mean this really belongs to us"?

"Yeah it's ours. It needs a little work though". He stated as she finally let go of him.

She nodded her head as she turned to look back at the house. "We can afford this"?

He nodded his head managing to lean over and kiss her cheek. "Yeah of course we can. Like I said it needs some work done on it. The man that owned this place before I bought it went to live with his son in Florida and he was pretty desperate to sell it".

She managed to follow him as he made his way up to the house and reached in his coat pocket pulling out the keys. He turned facing her and handing her one of two keys. "This is yours. I'm going to have an extra copy made though. Just in case we get locked out".

She nodded her head feeling excitement bubble deep inside her stomach as he finally turned the key opening the front door. He lead her inside the house thankful that she wasn't saying anything about the horrible faded wallpaper from the sixties.

He had already had the carpet replaced professionally. Yes he knew it was expensive, but he wasn't really the best person to take carpet up. He had left the walls alone mainly because he knew that Natalie would want to be the one to paint them.

She looked around the house feeling truly amazed with it all. She finally spoke up not being able to wipe the wide eyed look off her face. "This is really big honey".

"Not really. I mean it's only three bedrooms, but I figured we could turn one of the bedrooms into an office and make the other one a spare bedroom". He stated

She nodded her head as she turned to look out one of the windows towards the moving van. "I guess we better start carrying things in. It's going to take us all night".

"Good thing I have today and tomorrow off then huh"? He stated

He managed to lean over and kiss her lips softly. He couldn't wait until they finally got settled into this place. Maybe for the first time in a long time he'd finally have a place that really felt like a home.


	5. Late For Work & A Bathroom Conversation

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Chapter Five: Late For Work And Bathroom Conversation

Spencer almost tripped over his own feet as he made his way into the bullpen. He was late. He'd forgotten to plug in his alarm clock the night before so he'd unfortunately overslept.

He stumbled over to his desk managing to take off his messengers bag and shove it under his desk. He swallowed the lump in his throat as he saw Hotch make his way over to his desk.

"Reid your late".

He nodded his head as he tucked his hair behind his ears "Yeah sorry... I forgot to plug in my alarm clock last night".

"It's okay. Just don't let it happen again". Hotch stated as he made his way upstairs.

Spencer let out a breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding in as soon as he saw Hotch close the office door behind him. He looked over at Morgan's desk when he heard Morgan chuckle slightly.

"Whats wrong lover boy? Is Natalie keeping you up late at night? I mean I know by the hickeys I've seen on your neck that theres no trouble in paradise"? Morgan stated

Spencer felt his cheeks turn slightly pink as he reached up and started to pull the collar of his shirt up fearing that Morgan might see any hickeys Natalie had provided him. He felt his cheeks turn even darker once he realized that the only hickey Natalie had given him lately was located on his shoulder and was completely out of sight from any of his coworkers.

To tell the truth he really didn't go along with that whole trouble in paradise honeymoon is over thing when it came to relationships. Natalie and his realtionship had actually been pretty happy so far. Though they had already had their first fight. It had happened two days ago. It had been over a tabloid of his that she'd found. It was the tabloid from the Lila Archer case. At first he'd been slightly confused about why she was so upset. After all he thought that she was okay with the fact that he'd once kissed Lila Archer. Especially considering the kiss had happened before Natalie and he had even started their relationship. It had hit him later though after the fight. It wasn't that she was jealous, It was the fact that he'd kept the tabloid like it had meant something to him.

He guessed he could understand why she was so upset. After all he was sure he would feel a little insecure if he found a picture of Natalie and some guy that he knew she'd once kissed.

He'd made up with Natalie the second he'd realized why she was so upset. Though it was hard to make up with her. It wasn't like he could just buy her flowers considering that was one of the many things that she'd been given during her stalking. He'd just finally settled on talking to her and throwing the tabloid away. No she hadn't made him throw the tabloid away. He had made that desision on his own. It really wasn't like it meant anything to him, and besides he didn't need it to remember that it had happened. He could remember it just like he remembered everything else that happened in his lifetime.

Despite that one fight things had all been quite happy so far in their relationship.

"No. I just forgot to plug in my alarm". He managed to squeak out knowing that Morgan had noticed him pulling at his shirt collar.

Morgan grinned even more ignoring Spencer's pink face. Spencer let out a sigh of relief when Prentiss spoke up thankfully changing the subject "So Natalie and you got moved in okay"?

"Yeah. Well I mean we still have a few things left to unpack, but we should be fine". He stated feeling slightly guilty that he'd left her alone to deal with the house.

He'd actually wanted to stay home for one more day and help her with the painting and the unpacking, but he'd known that he had to get back to work. After all he had already taken almost an entire week off attempting to help her fix the place up. He really didn't want to use up all his vacation time never mind the fact he had tons of it built up.

"So Reid are we going to get to see this new house of yours this weekend"? Morgan stated raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah come on Reid. We'll throw you a housewarming party". Prentiss stated

Spencer felt the words leave his mouth before he even thought about it "Yeah okay".

He automatically felt like a moron as soon as he said this. He really should talk to Natalie about this before he said yes to anything. After all she had a lot to adjust to. He just didn't want it all to be too much too soon.

He swallowed the lump in his throat as he managed to get up from his desk and make his way over to the break room for a cup of coffee. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

Spencer sighed as he finally entered the front door of his house. He called out Natalie's name frowning when he got no response. He finally made his way upstairs to their bathroom where he found her taking a shower.

She pulled back the dark green shower curtain smiling when she saw him "Hey".

He nodded his head managing to lean over and kiss her without getting completely soaked with the running shower.

He broke the kiss smiling slightly when he noticed that she had a few smears of dark crimson paint on her shoulders and legs.

She giggled speaking up when she noticed that he was staring. "I just got finished painting the dining room. I'm actually doing pretty well. I mean you helped me paint our bedroom last night. So all I really have left is the living room".

He nodded his head knowing that they had both been working quite hard to fix the house up. They had painted the walls of their bedroom dark blue yesterday before they finally got their entire bedroom set up. The guest rooms were still partially unpacked though.

She smirked slightly speaking up "So do you want to get in with me and help me get some of this paint off"?

He widened his eyes as she said this before he managed to speak up. "I uh that sounds really fun, but I don't think thats such a good idea. I mean do you know how many emergency room visits are made per year from falling in the shower. Do you have any idea how many of those injuries occur when couples take showers together"?

She giggled placing her damp hand over his mouth "No Spence I have no idea and I don't want to know. I am going to get you in the bathtub with me eventually though".

He raised his eyebrows hearing this before she removed her hand from his mouth.

She pulled the curtain closed before he closed the toilet lid sitting down wondering if he should bring up the fact that his coworkers were throwing them a housewarming party this weekend.

Natalie let out a giggle when she realized that he was still in the bathroom with her. "Spence honey are you just going to sit over there and watch me take a shower"?

He swallowed the lump in his throat speaking up "No I just need to talk to you about something".

"Well talk away then". She stated as she managed to turn the shower off and pull the curtain back reaching out to grab a dark pink towel and wrap it around her body.

She stepped out of the shower and opened the bathroom door walking out into their bedroom as Spencer stood up and started to follow her.

He swallowed the lump in his throat managing to speak up as he watched her dry off. "My coworkers they want to uh...they want to give us a housewarming party this weekend and I told them that we'd let them. Your okay with it right"?

She smiled before she managed to walk over to him and kiss his cheek "Of course I'm okay with it. Their your friends and it's nice that they want to do this for us. Why would you think that I wouldn't be all right with it"?

He shrugged staring down at his feet as he spoke up "I don't know. I mean you've just been having such a hard time adjusting to all the changes in your life, and having to take over things at the antique store. I guess I just thought that it would be too much".

She smiled leaning up and kissing him softly. She spoke up as she pulled back "Don't worry about it Spence. I'm doing okay. I mean yeah works stressful, and It's hard having to work from home, but I'm happy".

He smiled letting out a sigh of relief as he heard her say this. He smiled even wider as she pulled back from him speaking up "So do you feel up to trying out our new room? I mean we've been way too exhausted to really do anything but sleep since we moved in".

He managed to kiss her deeply knowing that this whole housewarming party thing would probably work out just fine.


	6. A House Warming Party & A Helping Hand

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Chapter Six: A House Warming Party & A Helping Hand

Spencer smiled as he sat on a barstool at the kitchen counter and watched Natalie. He could admit he really enjoyed watching Natalie cook.

He guessed it was just because she was so graceful and so completely the opposite of him when it came to cooking. Yes he had cooked for his mother when he was a child, but he was actually quite inept when it came to doing things in the kitchen. He guessed it was because he wasn't terribly coordinated so it was difficult to use any kitchen appliances without hurting himself. He could admit that a box of macaroni and cheese was a gourmet meal to him.

He finally spoke up managing to reach up and tuck his hair behind his ears "Are you really sure that you don't need any help with anything"?

She looked up from the cheese dip that she was currently attempting to make. She smiled softly before she spoke up "I guess you can chop up some celery and get me those little baby carrots we bought yesterday".

He nodded his head managing to make his way over to the refrigerator before finding the vegetable drawer and pulling out everything he needed.

He started doing what she'd asked him grateful that she hadn't asked him to do anything too difficult. He had already burned quite a few things in this kitchen attempting to cook. It was actually kind of ridiculous. He'd think that he'd figure out how to cook without burning anything eventually. After all he'd been cooking since he was about ten.

He looked up frowning when he saw her remove a package of frozen spinach from the refrigerator. She giggled seeing the look on his face. "Relax sweetie It's for the spinach dip. I swear you don't have to eat any of it".

He let out a sigh of relief hearing this before he looked back down at the celery hoping that he wouldn't chop off a finger.

Okay so fine he was a picky eater, but he really couldn't help it. Besides he didn't really get how anyone in their right minds could actually like spinach.

He actually didn't get how Natalie could like half of the things that she liked. Like sushi for example. He knew that he could never once in a million years make himself eat sushi. It was raw fish and the only type of fish he ate was cooked.

He could admit that most of his favorite foods consisted of sweets like coffee cakes and rice crispies treats. No not the healthiest things in the world, but they were good.

He looked up as he heard the doorbell ring. He looked over at Natalie as she walked over to him and kissed his cheek. "Go answer the door and I'll take care of this okay".

He nodded his head laying the knife down as he walked out of the kitchen into the living room. He felt his palms start to sweat as he reached up to open the door. He could admit he was nervous about all of this.

After all it wasn't like he'd ever really been to a real party before. He guessed the closest thing to a party that he'd ever been to was one of his own tiny birthday parties at the BAU. Needless to say he wasn't exactly sure what to do at a party. He was just thankful that Natalie seemed to have a slight idea of how to entertain guests.

He sighed as he opened the door automatically moving to the side as all the members of his team minus Hotch and Gideon made their way through the door.

He raised his eyebrows as Garcia shoved a large brightly wrapped box into his hand. "Here this is for Natalie and you. It's sort of a little housewarming present".

He felt his cheeks flush slightly as he spoke up. "You didn't have to buy us a gift".

"Don't be ridiculous Spence. Besides we all chipped in to get it. Even Gideon and Hotch put in some money". JJ stated grinning as she took her coat off.

Spencer nodded his head as he swallowed the lump in his throat. "I um thanks...just put your coats anywhere".

"I like the living room Reid. It's very uh it fits Natalie and you I guess". Morgan stated as he stared around the room.

There were at least three bookcases set up in the room, a very old looking gray sofa, a nicely sized television, and quite a few antiques around the room. Everything in the room seemed to go along with the very light creamy yellow walls and the light hardwood floor.

Spencer nodded his head managing to mummblea thank you. He could admit he was feeling slightly weird about having his coworkers in his house.

He managed to make his way back to the kitchen to see that Natalie was just coming back from the dining room where she'd apparently moved all the food. He held out the box speaking up "This is for us".

She smiled leaning up and kissing his cheek "That was nice of them".

He nodded laying it on the counter thankful to have finally put it down. Whatever they'd bought them was apparently heavy, which wasn't too wonderful for him considering he wasn't the strongest person.

Natalie reached down taking his hand as they made their way back into the living room. She was automatically surrounded by the girls in the group who all quickly lead her towards the dinning room leaving Spencer alone with Morgan.

Spencer swallowed the lump in his throat as Morgan spoke up "So Reid how about you give me a tour of this place".

He nodded his head praying that there wasn't anything too embarrassing laying around.

* * *

Natalie almost choked on the baby carrot that she'd just put in her mouth as soon as she heard Garcia speak up "So if I'm not being way to nosey I was wondering whats our Reid like outside of work"?

Natalie felt her cheeks start to turn a rosy shade of pink as soon as she heard this question. She wasn't really sure what she could say about Spencer.

She guessed she could say that he was her soul mate and that he did something that made her smile every single day. Or maybe she could say that he was the sweetest person she'd ever known in her entire life and that she couldn't imagine going a single day without hearing his voice.

"He's amazing. I mean he's surprisingly very romantic". She stated feeling slightly dumb as she made this statement. She was sure that a lot of girlfriends described their boyfriends that way.

Prentiss raised her eyebrows as she spoke up "Does he give little lectures and blurt out weird little facts at home like he does at work"?

Natalie nodded her head praying that she wasn't going to say anything that could embarrass her boyfriend later on. "Yeah, but I'm used to it. I mean he's been that way since we were twelve years old".

Garcia giggled slightly before she managed to speak up "What was Reid like when he was twelve"?

Natalie felt her cheeks turn even more pink as she stared down at the dinning room table below her. "He was very smart and extremely sweet. So I guess he really hasn't changed that much".

She heard about three different awes as she made this statement. She hoped that Spencer never found out that she'd told three of his co workers that he was sweet and romantic.

* * *

Spencer tucked his hair behind his ears as he lead Morgan to one of the guest rooms. "This is probably going to be an office".

He was feeling overwhelmingly embarrassed by this point in the tour. Morgan had already spotted several pictures of Natalie and him when they were kids. He was just thankful that Morgan had only smirked and hadn't made any jokes about the pictures.

Morgan nodded his head frowning as he entered the room. Nothing really seemed to be arranged in any sort of order. The walls were a newly painted navy blue and the white carpet still had a few pieces of clear plastic tarp laying over it.

Apparently Spencer noticed the look on his face since he quickly spoke up. "Uh we really haven't had the chance to arrange things in here. We wanted to paint first, and we didn't have a chance to move anything since the paint was drying".

He smiled slightly remembering how Natalie had insisted that he be the one to pick out the color. She kept on saying that she was feeling spoiled considering he had let her pick out almost every single color they used in the house.

Morgan shook his head slightly as he spoke up. "Okay help me move this desk".

Spencer raised his eyebrows speaking up "You don't have to help me. I mean really it's fine. Your here to have a good time not to help me move furniture".

Morgan sighed shaking his head "Yes I do have to help genius thats what friends do. Now help me move this".

Spencer swallowed the lump in his throat widening his eyes slightly. Morgan had never really called him his friend before. Yes he knew that they were all friends, but no one had ever really stated this fact out loud before.

He sighed managing to reach down and help the best that he could with the desk. This was definitely going to be a long night.


	7. Some Bubbles and The Family

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Chapter Seven: Some Bubbles and The Family

Natalie couldn't help but to giggle as she heard Spencer let out another relaxed sigh. She reached down pulling the bubbles up closer to her as she spoke up. "See I told you that you'd enjoy this".

He nodded managing to lean down and kiss the back of her neck. She was right if anyone had told him how incredible this would feel he would have insisted on doing taking bubble baths with Natalie everyday.

They were currently crammed into their bathtub with Natalie practically laying against him with her back to him. It was a bit of a tight fit, but it still felt amazing.

He couldn't help but to love everything about it. He loved the strong scent of the bubbles, they were a nice calming sweet scent of vanilla, the heat of the water, and not to mention her soft body pressed up against his.

He was trying hard to be on his best behavior right now, mainly because he wanted to keep the bath completely innocent. He was way too exhausted and sore to try anything anyway.

He had really needed this after the day he'd had. The last case they'd been on was difficult and it had taken it's toll on everyone. It didn't help that he'd been sore from helping Morgan move furniture a few nights ago either.

He was more than a little exhausted by the time he'd gotten home and Natalie had insisted on this. She kept on saying that the hot water would take all the tension out of his body, and she'd been right. He had probably never been this relaxed in his entire life.

He couldn't help but smile when Natalie took his arms from off the sides of the tub and wrapped them around her waist. She spoke up placing her hands on top of his "There thats better".

"You know if you keep on doing things like this I'm going to start feeling spoiled". He stated as he kissed her neck once again.

She rolled her eyes as she heard him make this statement. "Oh please Spence. I think I'm the one thats being spoiled. You do so much for me and I think that you deserve little things like this".

He widened his eyes as she spoke up again "I talked to my dad earlier".

"How did it go"? He stated as he started to caress her stomach.

She sighed laying her head back and resting it on his chest. "I'm not going to lie it was hard. He was pretty upset that I didn't tell him about the stalking".

He sighed managing to lean down and kiss her cheek. "He's okay now right? I mean he understands why you didn't tell him"?

She nodded her head speaking up "Yeah I think he's okay now. It was just upsetting that I didn't tell him. I mean I usually tell him almost everything".

"Everything"? He stated starting to get slightly anxious.

She giggled hearing his reaction to that statement before she spoke up. "Okay not everything, but I do tell him a lot. I told him about us".

"How did he react to that"? He stated feeling even more anxious.

"A little shocked. I mean I think he was surprised that we're living together, but I think he's pretty happy about us". She responded.

He let out a relived sigh as she said this. No he didn't think that her father wouldn't approve of them being together. He really hadn't been sure how he'd react. After all it had been almost a month and he'd gone from being Natalie's best friend to being her boyfriend whom she was living with and having a very serious relationship with.

He widened his eyes as she spoke up again. "Their coming to see us for Thanksgiving".

"Thanksgivings in two weeks. I mean do we have the room? Whose coming just your dad or what"? Spencer stated starting to feel his mind going into overtime as he wondered if they'd have the room for guests.

She sighed shaking her head slightly. She knew he'd react like this. It was just how he was and had always been. He worried about anything and everything. "Spencer of course we have the room. My grandma's more than likely going to take the guest room, and my dad can sleep in the office on the sofa we put in there. I'm not really sure where my brother his girlfriend and their daughter are going to sleep, but I'm sure we can figure something out when they get here. They may even stay at a hotel for all we know".

"That's a lot of people". He stated starting to feel his stomach churn.

She smiled speaking up "Spence trust me this many people is nothing compared to the amount of people you would've had to meet if my dad had insisted on us going back to Vegas for the holidays. I mean do you have any idea how many aunts, uncles, and cousins you would have had to meet if we'd gone home for Thanksgiving"?

He nodded his head realizing that she had a point. Natalie did have quite a large family on her father's side. Natalie's father had four sisters and they had all married and had quite a few kids and they all usually got together on the holidays. Spencer could remember how many cars he used to see lined up in front of Natalie's house during the holidays when they were kids.

His mother had never really celebrated holidays when he was growing up. He was sure that they had celebrated when he was younger, but as he got older his mother got more ill, and soon they'd just stopped having Thanksgiving dinners and Christmas dinners.

He swallowed the lump in his throat as Natalie managed to stand up in the tub and climb out grabbing a fresh white towel and wrapping it around her body. She looked down at him raising her eyebrows "Come on Spence the waters getting cold".

He sighed realizing that the water was in fact starting to get pretty cold. He stood up climbing out of the tub and grabbing himself a towel as Natalie leaned over and started to drain the tub.

He managed to follow her back to their bedroom as they both dried off. Natalie managed to throw her dirty towel in the hamper and find clean pajamas.

She raised her eyebrows as she shoved her black cotton camisole over her head. She heard him speak up "So do you want some coffee"?

She giggled as she managed to shove a pair of green pajama pants on. "No offense honey but it's like midnight how can you possibly be in the mood for coffee"?

He shrugged blushing slightly staring down at his bare feet "I don't know. I just drink a lot of coffee".

She shook her head as she managed to crawl into their bed and get under the covers. She knew that Spencer loved coffee, but she never thought that he loved it enough to want it at midnight.

It probably didn't help that his team had bought them a brand new coffee pot for their housewarming party. He had pretty much become addicted to using it. She seriously had no idea exactly how many cups of coffee she'd seen him drink since they'd gotten it.

He sighed giving up on getting another cup of coffee as he wondered over to his dresser and shoved on one of his university t shirts on over his plain gray pajama pants. He climbed into bed beside her and widened his eyes as she rolled over and laid her head on his chest before she spoke up "I love you".

He smiled looking down at her before he spoke up "I love you too".

He sighed as he spoke up again "Are you sure your family is okay with us living together so soon"?

She smiled managing to lean up and kiss his cheek "Yes Spencer I'm sure. My dad was pretty thrilled when he heard that I was living with you. You know how much he likes you".

He nodded his head as she made this statement. She was right her dad really did like him. Her dad had always liked him. Maybe he was just worrying too much.


	8. Nervous Reid ?

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Chapter Eight: Nervous Reid ?

Spencer frowned as he heard Morgan's amused voice behind him "Reid what are you reading"?

He managed to close the magazine that he was currently staring at as he spoke up "Nothing".

Morgan rolled his eyes managing to reach down and take the magazine out of Spencer hands before he opened it looking even more amused. He managed to find the pages marked by a purple post it before he started to read out loud "How to make the perfect Thanksgiving dinner. How to select the right turkey at the right price. Classic stuffing recipes".

Spencer felt his cheeks turn a dark shade of pink as he reached up and took the magazine back. So fine he was reading a cooking magazine, but he just wanted to be prepared. He had already promised Natalie that he would help her with the cooking, and he just wanted to have an idea of what he was supposed to do.

He spoke up swallowing the lump in his throat. "Natalie's family is coming in for Thanksgiving. I'm helping her cook".

Morgan smiled shaking his head as he sat down at his desk. "Nervous about meeting the future in-laws Reid"?

Spencer raised his eyebrows as he heard Morgan say this. Of course he was nervous. He'd never been so nervous in his entire life.

Prentiss sighed speaking up "Reid you'll be just fine. I'm sure Natalie's family is going to adore you".

He let a nervous smile spread across his face as she said this. That was what Natalie had been telling him every single day for the past week. She kept on saying that her father loved him and that the rest of her family would feel the same way.

It didn't help him feel any better though. All he could think about was all the embarrassing things that could happen. He could say something stupid in front of them, or he could start ranting on about statistics at dinner, or he could be called away on an emergency case during dinner. There were tons of things that could go wrong.

He just didn't want to make the wrong impression in front of them. He knew that this was important to Natalie. After all this was her family so they meant a lot to her. She loved the holidays and he didn't want to ruin it for her.

He let out a sigh grateful to see that Morgan had turned his attention towards his computer and was thankfully no longer paying attention to what he was reading.

He worked up the nerve to turn his attention back towards the magazine as he started to wonder if he could find anything that could tell him how to make pumpkin pie. Maybe he could talk Natalie into just buying a pre-made pie.

* * *

Natalie frowned as she made an attempt to lift the butterball turkey out of the backseat of her car. It was no easy task considering it seemed to weigh a ton.

Spencer had finally talked her into going and getting a Washington drivers license so she was thankfully no longer counting on taxis and other forms of public transportation to get around.

She had used her first paycheck as owner of the antique store to buy herself a car. It wasn't really a great car considering it had been bought from a used car shop, the green paint was faded, and the backseat had a small tear in it that was being held together by duck tape. Spencer had looked at her like she was completely out of her mind when she had driven it home and showed it to him, but it got her around and that was all that mattered to her.

She finally managed to lift the turkey holding it almost the same way someone would hold a newborn child as she made it inside the house. She dropped the turkey on the counter beside the other groceries she had purchased.

She frowned looking up when she saw Spencer walk through the door of the kitchen. She looked up at the clock above the stove realizing that it was already five pm. She really hadn't realized that she'd been out that long, but then again she'd had a lot of errands to run.

She had gone by the antiques store which hadn't been easy, but she felt guilty about working from home. After the antiques store she'd gone and gotten almost everything they would need for her family's visit in less than two weeks.

"Do you need help unloading all of that"? Spencer stated staring down at the plastic grocery bags spread out across the counter.

She nodded her head smiling "Yeah that would help. I know it looks like I got a lot, but I'm really trying to make everything from scratch so it took a lot of ingredients.

He nodded his head as he managed to lift the turkey shoving it into the freezer huffing slightly at the weight of it. He finally spoke up sighing slightly "Why did you get such a big turkey"?

She rolled her eyes speaking up "Because I wanted to have enough for everyone".

"Their coming in on a Friday right"? He stated swallowing the lump that was developing in his throat.

She smiled slightly amused since he had asked this question several times already. "Yes and it's going to be just fine I promise your going to be great".

He nodded his head as he started to unload one of the grocery bags. "How old is your niece again"?

"Four years old". She stated as she made an attempt to help him with the bags.

He raised his eyebrows as she said this. Oh god four. He didn't do very well around kids especially little kids. Kids always seemed to think he was odd, mainly because he never really knew how to talk to them.

She spoke up noticing his nervous look. "Your going to do just fine sweetie. Don't worry okay. It's really not good for you to worry as much as you do".

He smiled hearing this as she managed to lean up and kiss his cheek. "I'll try. I love you Natalie".

"I love you too Spence". She stated finally pulling back from his cheek before she turned her attention back to the groceries.

He sighed making an attempt to change the subject. "So how was your day"?

She shrugged looking up at him. "Okay.....I went to the antique store".

He raised his eyebrows hearing this. He spoke up feeling nervous as he heard the words antique store. "How did it go"?

She sighed shaking her head "It wasn't easy. I just felt like I needed to go. I think I'm going to have to fire the new girl I hired. You know the one I hired to do the books"?

"Why"? He stated as he moved behind her and reached out running his hands up in down her back. He had just noticed that she looked a little tense.

She smiled slightly feeling herself sink into his hands. "Shes just unreliable. I mean Rachel the manager I hired told me that this new girls been showing up late, and she seems more interested in trying to pick up a boyfriend than she does in actually working. I'm kind of freaking out about the whole thing. I mean I've never had to fire someone before. I just hate the idea of it. It makes me feel like I'm ruining someones day".

He nodded his head as he leaned over pressing a soft kiss to the side of her neck as he continued to rub her back"It'll work out".

She smiled speaking up "I hope so. Your really good at this by the way".

He felt his cheeks burn as she said this "Thanks".

She couldn't help but to giggle at his short response. "What no little facts and weird statistics about back massages"?

He raised his eyebrows shrugging . "No. I'll look up some statistics tonight if you want me too though".


	9. Airports and Orange Ties

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Chapter Nine: Airports and Orange Ties

Spencer frowned as he stood in Natalie and his room and stared at himself in the mirror. Something just wasn't quite right about this outfit and he couldn't put his finger on it. This was about the third outfit he'd tried on and he still didn't feel quite comfortable.

It was almost funny how he'd never put that much thought into his clothing until tonight. Tonight they were going to pick up Natalie's family at the airport and then Natalie's father was insisting on taking them out for dinner.

This fact made him more than a little nervous. Mainly because if Natalie's father was taking them out to dinner then that meant that they would be going somewhere nice. Natalie's father had more than enough money to do things like this. Natalie's father and his sisters had inherited large sums of money from their father when he passed away and Natalie's father had invested his inheritance so it had doubled over the years.

Natalie's grandfather had owned some kind of factory that made slot machines for quite a few of the casinos in Vegas, so he had more than enough money to leave to all his children, and his wife. Spencer had only met Natalie's grandparents one time when he was fifteen. He was sure that her grandmother wouldn't even remember him considering he hadn't said much to her when they'd met.

Spencer felt his stomach churn as he made his way towards their bathroom and opened the door to see that Natalie was already fully dressed and she was now doing her makeup. He cleared his throat as he spoke up. "How does this look"?

Natalie turned to face him widening her eyes at the sight of him. She bit her bottom lip in an attempt to stop herself from giggling at his choice of wardrobe. "Uh Spence sweetheart. Your wearing a green sweater vest and a bright orange tie".

He raised his eyebrows not sure what she was trying to say. She shook her head slightly as she spoke up. "Spence no offense, but the orange and the green together kind of makes you resemble a pumpkin".

He felt his cheeks turn pink as she said this. She was right. He spoke up getting a little bit frustrated "I don't know what to wear. Nothing I put on seems to look right".

She felt a small smile spread across her face as she walked over to him managing to wrap her arms around his waist in a comforting hug. "Just be yourself okay. I'm still going to be in love with you no matter what you wear".

He kissed the top of her head as he started to let his hands run up and down her back. He couldn't help but to enjoy the feeling of soft black material of her dress against her body. He spoke up sighing as he buried his head against her shoulder "I love you too. I just want to look nice. I really want to make a good impression".

She rolled her eyes as she heard him make this statement. "You always look nice. Your incredibly handsome. I know that your going to make a great impression".

He sighed wondering how she could have so much faith in him. He also wondered how she could think that he was that attractive. He didn't really think that there was anything about his body that was all that attractive. After all he had always thought that he was way too tall, and he knew that his thin boyish body couldn't be that appealing.

Natalie refused to point out any of these things though. She always tried to tell him that he wasn't too tall and that his body wasn't boyish. He was just lean. She sometimes wondered how many times she would have to tell him these things before he got it through his genius brain that she really did find him overwhelmingly attractive.

She knew that it wasn't easy for him though. After all he'd spent a huge chunk of his childhood being beaten up and called a freak. She knew that this had made him develop a little bit of a low self esteem.

He finally pulled back from her as he spoke up "What do you think I should wear"?

"Wear that nice blue sweater of yours over the shirt that your wearing right now, and one of your gray ties. You always look nice in that". Natalie stated kissing his lips before she made her way back to the bathroom counter and finished applying her makeup.

He nodded his head hoping that she was right.

* * *

Spencer felt his palms start to sweat as they made their way into the airport and started to head towards the gate that they would be meeting her family at.

Natalie sighed as she reached down and grabbed his hand "Relax Spence. It's all going to work out".

He nodded his head as he spoke up changing the subject "Hey did you know that this airport was built in about 1962 and about 1,800 to about 2,000 flights a day are handled here"?

She nodded her head giggling as she heard him say this "Spence I don't think I want to know how you knew that".

He blushed slightly as he spoke up "I looked it up on the computer a few days ago. I was bored because I finished my paperwork early".

"When do you not finish your paperwork early"? She stated teasing him a little since she had already been told by Morgan, JJ, and pretty much every other member of his team that he was always the first one done with paperwork.

He rolled his eyes as she said this. He spoke up ignoring her teasing comment. "So what's your nieces and your brother's girlfriend's names agian"?

She smiled knowing he'd asked her this several times already. "My neices name is Sarah, and my brother's girlfriend's name is Liz".

He nodded his head as he tried to remember that again. For once in his life his brain didn't want to remember these little pieces of information. He was too nervous to really focus on anything that helpful right now.

He widened his eyes as he heard her family's flight being announced over the loud speaker. He felt lightheaded as Natalie managed to lead him over to the gate.

They stood there for a few minutes before she finally spotted her family exiting the gate. She let go of Spencer's hand as she made her way over to her father hugging him tightly. She spoke up turning around to face Spencer as her father finally let her pull back from the hug. "Dad you remember Spencer Reid right"?

Spencer felt his throat start to tighten up as Natalie's father reached out shake his hand. Her father had always made him more than nervous even though her father had always been nice to him. Her father was just intimating. He wasn't a very tall man, but he made up for that fact in strength.

Spencer managed to take his hand hoping that the fact that his hands were sweating wasn't too noticable. He lifted his hand up waving shyly at the other members of her family. "It's nice to see you again Mr. Donovan".

"Spencer please call me Brian. Your family now". Her father stated smiling slightly.

Spencer nodded his head not sure that he could ever really call her father by his first name. He had always called him Mr. Donovan or sir. Calling him Brian felt weird.

Natalie frowned as she spoke up looking over at her older brother "Where's Liz? I thought that you said she was coming".

"She changed her mind. Were not really getting along right now". Natalie's brother Robert stated rolling his eyes a little.

Natalie nodded her head knowing that her brother and his girlfriend broke up and made up more than anyone else she'd ever met in her entire life. She actually wondered how two people that couldn't really ever seem to get along had managed to have a child together.

Then again her parent's pretty much hated each other and they'd made two children. She hoped that Spencer and her would never end up like that. She knew that it was impossible mainly because she could never even attempt hate Spencer no matter what happened. She knew she'd love him no matter what.

She smiled as she managed to lean down and pick up her niece. She turned towards Spencer speaking up. "Sarah this is my friend Spencer can you say hi to him"?

The little girl widened her eyes managing to mumble out a very soft hello before she buried her head into her aunt's shoulder. Natalie shook her head slightly running her hand through the little girls curly light brown hair.

It seemed that everyone in her family had green eyes and brown hair. Well she'd had the brown hair until she'd dyed her hair. She had already decided that she wanted to keep her hair red, mainly because she kept on thinking about how Alex Matthews had said that he liked her brown hair. She hadn't really told Spencer that this was the main reason that she was keeping her hair red.

Spencer bit his bottom lip looking at Sarah. He guessed that the child was more frightened of him than he was of her. Hopefully she would warm up to him.

Natalie put the child down before she walked over to her grandmother hugging her gently. "It's good to see you Nana".

Natalie's father finally spoke up. "Well I'm starving lets go eat".

Spencer felt his stomach start to churn as Natalie walked over to him and reached down taking his hand. Hopefully he didn't make a fool out of himself.


	10. Dinners Can Sometimes Be Awkward

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Chapter Ten: Dinners Can Sometimes Be Awkward

Spencer frowned as he stared down at his menu. Why did everything on this menu have to be so outrageously expensive? He frowned a little bit harder at the menu hoping that he could find the cheapest thing possible.

He had decided to order the cheapest thing he could possibly find mainly because he didn't want Natalie's father to have to pay so much for everyone. Spencer had offered to pay for Natalie and himself, but her father wouldn't let him.

To tell the truth the thought of someone buying him dinner made him feel pretty awkward. He guessed it was because no one had ever bothered to buy him dinner before. When the team went out for dinner he always bought his own meals. Even when Natalie and he went out for dinner he usually always paid the bill and Natalie always paid the tip.

He finally settled on the spaghetti with meatballs knowing that it was the cheapest thing on the menu that wasn't an appetizer. He closed the menu laying it down on the table below him as he looked around the table.

Everyone was busy doing their own thing. He could admit this made him feel a little bit like an outcast.

Natalie's father and her brother were busy talking about some football game. He knew he couldn't exactly join that conversation considering he didn't know very much about contact sports. Yes he knew all the technical things like how the sport was invented and such, but he didn't know anything that would be helpful in a conversation.

Natalie's grandmother was still reading her menu so talking to her wasn't an option. Even Natalie was busy. She was busy coloring with crayons with her niece on the little paper child's menu that the waiter had brought.

He couldn't help but to smile a little seeing Natalie with her niece. He sometimes wished he could be as calm around kids as his girlfriend was.

He guessed he was so uncomfortable around kids because of the way he'd been raised. He rarely had the chance to play with the other children in his neighborhood. Not that they would have played with him anyway. They all thought he was weird, but then again kids were cruel. He'd learned that a long time ago thanks to all the beatings and all the taunting that he'd endured through high school.

Natalie was really the only one that had ever bothered to get him out of the house when they were kids. He was usually always cooped up in the house reading and memorizing poems with his mother, or busy reading every single little statistic and fact he could find at the library.

He let out a sigh of relief feeling a little bit calmer as he felt Natalie reach under the table and take his hand in hers.

He glanced over at her seeing that she had finally quit coloring with her niece. She gave him a comforting smile as she gave his hand a gentle squeeze. He smiled back at her wondering how she could always tell when he was feeling a little bit out of place.

He tore his eyes away from hers as he heard her father speak up. "So Spencer Natalie says your working for the government now? Your a profiler now right"?

He nodded his head swallowing the lump in his throat as he spoke up. "Yes sir. I work for the uh the Bau. The behavioral analysis unit in Quantico".

"Well that must be a stressful job especially at your young age. I imagine that your mother's proud, but it must worry your mother quite a bit. I mean I imagine your jobs a dangerous one to have". Natalie's grandmother stated finally looking up from her menu.

He felt his cheeks flush as she said this. Oh god why was she asking about his mother? He spoke up nodding his head deciding that he wouldn't go into a lot of detail about his mother. "Yes she's really proud and it does really worry her at times".

He felt Natalie squeeze his hand gently as she gave her older brother a annoyed look.

Her brother and her father were supposed to explain Spencer's family to her grandmother. They already knew about his mother's illness and they'd promised her that they would explain it all to her grandmother so Spencer wouldn't have to explain it. She knew it was so hard for him to talk about his mother. He even had a hard time talking about his mother to her.

Spencer felt another lump begin to develop in his throat as her grandmother spoke up again "What about your father dear? I imagine that he has something to say about what you do for a living"?

"He's um....my father's not really around. He left when I was ten, and I haven't spoken to him since then". He stated feeling his stomach begin to churn.

Natalie sighed giving her boyfriend a comforting look. She knew he hated having to talk about his father. He rarely talked about it.

Spencer started to feel his palms sweat as he looked around the table. Her grandmother had a slightly shocked apologetic look on her face, and Natalie's father and her brother were both giving him apologetic looks.

"I think I....I really need some fresh air. Excuse me". He stated as he let go of Natalie's hand and stood up from the table making his way away from the table and out the front door of the restaurant.

Natalie sighed as she watched her boyfriend exit the building. She turned too look at her family members whom were all still looking quite apologetic. Her grandmother finally spoke up raising her eyebrows. "Oh my......I'm so sorry......I had no idea".

Natalie nodded her head trying to put on her best smile. "It's okay Nana. I'm going to go check on him".

She finally managed to make it outside were she found him sitting on a bench beside the concrete outside ashtray and garbage can, out in front of the restaurant.

She sat down beside him managing to lay her head against his shoulder as she wrapped her arms around his waist. He spoke up glancing down at her. "I'm sorry....I guess I just needed to escape for a little while".

He flinched a little as he made this statement. He raised his hands up tucking his hair behind his ears as he started wave his hands around a bit. "Sorry that didn't come out right. I meant to say that I just needed to you know get away for a little while and think".

She smiled softly letting go of him before she leaned up and kissed his cheek. "I know what you mean Spence. Relax okay".

He felt his cheeks flush as he finally laid his hands down at his sides. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to react like that. I mean I know she didn't know about my parents".

"Do you want to talk about it. I mean do you want to talk about your parents?......You don't have to if you don't want too". Natalie stated laying her head back down on his shoulder.

He nodded his head sighing a little. "It's just hard you know? I mean I see you with your dad and the rest of your family. You all love each other and get along. It was never that way with my family. I mean my mom and dad were always fighting and I was always really close to my mom. It was like my dad never really accepted me for who I was. So it was almost like my mom was all I ever had. I mean yeah she was sick and I had to take car of her, but she had good days too".

"Why do you think that your dad never accepted you"? She stated taking one of his hands in hers.

He sighed shaking his head a little. "He left when I was ten. My mom she tried to make him take me with him, but he wouldn't do it. It was like he wanted to escape from my mom and me. I used to try so hard when I was really little. I tried to get him to do things with me, but he always avoided me. He used to get so mad at my mom for letting me read and study all the time. He wanted me to be like all the other kids in the neighborhood".

He paused swallowing the lump in his throat. "I used to think that maybe just maybe if I was really good then he'd accept me. I thought that if I tried hard enough we could be like all the other dad's and kids I knew".

She nodded her head as she spoke up "You know how it was with my mom right? I mean you know how she used to.....you know get really mean when she was drunk right"?

"Yeah I know". He stated frowning slightly.

She sighed speaking up again. "The sick thing about it is that I used to take care of her. Even though she never really loved me or treated me like she should have. I used to clean up after her and help her into bed when she was drunk, and I protected her you know. I mean I could've told my dad what she was doing to me, but I never did. I protected her and thats so completely screwed up".

"You were just a kid. Natalie. She was your mother and you were scared of her". He stated managing to reach out and tuck her hair behind her ears.

She smiled softly speaking up. "You know your dad didn't deserve you right"?

He raised his eyebrows as he spoke up "What do you mean"?

"I mean your way too wonderful and sweet to me. He wasn't that bright for not noticing how amazing you are. He didn't deserve to have someone like you as a son".

He felt his cheeks burn as she said this. He felt them burn even more as she took her head off his shoulder and pressed her lips to his kissing him deeply. She finally pulled back from the kiss before she spoke up. "I love you so much".

He smiled nodding his head "I love you too".

She laid her head against his shoulder as she spoke. "It's going to work out Spence. I promise by the time Thanksgivings over their going to completly and totally adore you".

He nodded his head truly believing that she was right. She had to be.


	11. Pictures and Pink Icing

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Chapter Eleven: Photos and Pink Icing

Natalie raised her eyebrows as she stood next to the door frame of the kitchen and stared into the living room. She guessed that she had been right when she'd told Spencer that her family would adore him.

The sight in front of her proved it. Spencer was currently sitting on the couch drinking coffee right next to her grandmother whom had one of the very large scrapbooks that she had brought along with her open sitting in her lap.

Her grandmother had been showing him scrapbooks all day, and he'd sat there looking at them the entire time. He actually seemed to be enjoying himself.

She had sat with them while they'd gone through the first scrapbook, but she had decided to leave them alone for a little while. Spencer had seemed to warm up to her family a little bit since that dinner a few nights ago.

He still seemed a little shy at times though. She knew that was just part of his personality. He had always been shy ever since the first day she'd met him.

To tell the truth she found his shyness kind of sweet. It was one the many things about him that she loved.

She knew exactly what was in the scrapbooks. They were full of embarrassing childhood pictures of her. Yes Spencer had seen pictures of her before, but these photos where a thousand times worst than any photos her father used to leave sitting out around the house when she was a little girl.

She swallowed the lump in her throat hoping that he wouldn't see anything unbearably embarrassing. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad. Besides he had known her at twelve years old so did have some idea of what she'd looked like as a child.

Natalie felt her cheeks turn pink as she heard her grandmother speak up as she pointed down to one of the scrapbook's pages. "Oh this is Natalie all dressed up for Halloween. She was just five years old in this picture. She was just the cutest little thing. I took Robert and her trick or treating since Brian had to stay at home and grade some papers".

Natalie shook her head slightly as she remembered what she looked like in this picture. She was only five years old and she had just seen The Wizard of OZ a couple of weeks before Halloween. So she had dressed up as Dorothy red ruby slippers, and little basket included. She had horribly frizzy hair and she'd just lost her two front teeth when this picture had been taken.

She raised her eyebrows in disbelief as she heard her boyfriend speak up. "She was really cute. I don't think I've ever seen that picture before".

What was he talking about? There was nothing about that picture that just screamed out adorable. She frowned as she turned and headed back into the kitchen. She didn't think she could take anymore embarrassment today.

She had already had to sit through her grandmother's showing of the first scrapbook she'd brought with her, and she didn't plan on sitting through another book.

She jumped a little looking up from the magazine that she'd been flipping through, as she felt familiar arms wrap around her from behind.

She spoke up rolling her eyes "What did you two finally run out of embarrassing photos"?

Spencer smirked a little as she made this statement. "No your grandmother just needed to take a nap. She's going to show me the other scrapbooks later".

"Oh wonderful. I can't wait". She stated sarcasticly as she leaned back into him enjoying the way his arms tightened around her waist.

He sighed as he managed to kiss the back of her neck. "I happen to think that you were a very beautiful little girl. I still think your beautiful".

"Are you trying to sweet talk me so I wont care that your looking at horrible pictures of me"? She stated shaking her head slightly.

He raised his eyebrows speaking up as he kissed her neck once again "Maybe. I did get to see that picture of you from your first birthday party. Thats probably my favorite picture so far. You were really cute in that picture".

She frowned as she managed to turn around facing him. "Spence how can you possibly think that I was cute in that picture? I was covered with pink icing and chocolate cupcake crumbs".

"I don't know. It's just cute. I'm hoping your grandmother will give me a copy of it". He stated before he leaned down pressing his lips to hers.

She sighed as she reluctantly broke the kiss. She spoke up smirking "You better not show anyone about that picture if she gives you a copy. If I find out that you showed anyone I'll show the girls some embarrassing photos of you the next time they take me out".

He felt his cheeks turn pink as she said this. He was pretty sure he could never face any of the girls at work if he knew that they'd seen some of his awkward childhood photos.

He was actually glad that Natalie had developed a friendship with some of his coworkers. She had gone out drinking and such several times with JJ, Prentiss, and Garcia. She seemed to get along with them quite well.

This fact made him happy considering she really didn't get to go out that often, and she really didn't have very many real friends.

She spoke up as she she started running her hands up and down his back. "So enough about the pictures. Did you have fun coloring with my niece earlier"?

He felt a lump begin to develop in his throat as he heard this. He had no idea she's seen him coloring with the little girl earlier. What was he supposed to do though? Sarah had just handed him some crayons and handed him a coloring book. He couldn't say no to a kid.

He started to feel his cheeks turn even darker as he realized she had seen him coloring. He spoke up shaking his head a little. "Sure I had a blast. Hey did you know that statistically the average four year old will ask 100 questions per day"?

"You know what that means don't you"? She stated giggling a little

He frowned feeling a little bit confused "No what does it mean"?

She smiled kissing his lips once again before she spoke up. "Lets face it Spence if we ever have kids their going to be just like you. So their probably not going to be that average. Just think about how many questions their going to ask us per day"?

He widened his eyes as she made this statement. Oh god she was right.


	12. Permission

**Disclaimer remains the same. **

**Please do review**

Chapter Twelve: Permission

Robert Donovan frowned as he took a sip from his coffee cup. He coughed slightly as he made an attempt to swallow the piping hot liquid. He raised his eyebrows as he looked across the kitchen counter and stared at his younger sister.

He coughed a little bit harder as he finally managed to clear his throat and speak up. "Jeez Natalie who made this coffee"?

She smirked slightly as she heard this comment. "Spencer. He likes to have strong coffee in the morning.......and then again at work. He sometimes likes to have more coffee when he gets home from work too, and occasionally again at night if I let him get away with it".

"Well what'd he do to it? Did he use the entire bag of coffee grinds? This is terrible". He stated as he walked over to the sink and poured the entire cup down the drain.

She giggled shrugging a bit. "Now you know why I never drink the coffee".

He nodded his head knowing now why the only thing he'd seen his little sister drink for breakfast in the morning was milk or juice.

He shook his head as he managed to speak up completely changing the subject. "So this is for real? I mean Spencer Reid and you"?

She raised her eyebrows as she took the turkey out of the freezer and stuck it in the refrigerator hoping that it would thaw out in time to be cooked for dinner tonight. "Yeah what about us"?

"I don't know it's just weird I guess. I mean he used to tutor me". Robert stated running his hands through his shaggy brown hair.

She rolled her eyes as she looked up at her older brother. She had almost forgotten that Spencer had once tutored Robert in high school. He'd helped him with chemistry. Which was amusing to say the least. Her big tough rocker older brother being tutored by a twelve year old boy.

She knew that it had embarrassed him. After all what was worst than being tutored? Being tutored by a kid that was the same age as your younger sister.

Her brother sighed as he sat the coffee cup down in the sink and spoke up. "I think I'm going to go to Starbucks and get some real coffee".

She smiled slightly as she spoke up "Okay could you do me a favor and get a can of cranberry sauce? I completely forgot to tell Spence to get it when he left for the grocery store this morning".

He rolled his eyes nodding his head as he made it out of the kitchen hoping that Starbucks didn't make their coffee anything close to the way Spencer Reid made coffee.

* * *

Spencer frowned as he managed to lift the final paper grocery bag out of his trunk. Natalie had forgotten a few things that she needed for dinner so he'd headed to the grocery store and gotten her everything she needed.

He managed to make his way inside and sat the bag on the counter next to the three other bags he'd brought in.

He smiled slightly as he felt Natalie kiss his cheek. She spoke up smiling up at him "Thanks sweetie".

He looked down at her as she began to unload the bags. He sighed as he spoke up "So I was thinking about Christmas".

She raised her eyebrows looking over at her boyfriend. She spoke up smiling a little "Spence It's only Thanksgiving and your already thinking about Christmas".

"Yeah I've been thinking about it a lot lately. I mean I know were supposed to go spend Christmas in Vegas with your family. So I was thinking that maybe while were there we can you know.....go see my mom". He stated reaching up and tucking his hair behind his ears.

His hair was starting to get a little shaggy and he had the feeling that Hotch was going to make him go get a haircut if it got any longer.

She widened her eyes as she heard him make this statement. She was actually pretty sure that she'd never really get to go visit his mother with him. Mainly because Spencer had a hard time dealing with anything that had to do with his mother. It just made him uneasy.

"Are you sure? I mean It's just surprising".

"Yeah I know. I mean I just want to go see her. She's already met you as my friend, but I want her to meet you as my girlfriend". He stated feeling his throat tighten a bit.

She smiled managing to walk over to him and hug him gently. "Okay that sounds like a good idea. I'd like to go see your mom with you".

He nodded his head grateful to hear her make this comment. He finally spoke up as she let go of him. "Hey wheres your dad? I didn't see him in the living room when I came in"?

"I don't know. Try checking out back". She stated as she continued to unload the bags.

---------------------------------

He sighed as he left the room and manged to make his way out to the backyard. He wasn't surprised to see her father leaning against the railing of the deck out back smoking a cigarette.

Natalie wouldn't let her father smoke in the house. Spencer was actually pretty sure she didn't want her father smoking at all, but Brian wasn't going to quit anytime soon.

He swallowed the lump in his throat as he made his way over to him. He was thankful that he hadn't taken his coat off. Since it was quite cold out right now.

He managed to swallow another lump as it began to develop in his throat before he finally spoke up. "I...uh Mr. Donovan sir can I talk to you about something"?

Brain Donovan raised his eyebrows a bit as he looked at the younger man standing next to him. "How many times do I have to tell you Spencer? Call me Brian".

Spencer nodded his head feeling his cheeks turn pink as he spoke up again. "Brian may I talk to you about something"?

"Go ahead Spencer what do you want to talk about"? He stated as he put his cigarette out and pulled another one out of the pack lighting up,

Spencer sighed as he stared down at the dead yellow leaf covered grass in the yard before he managed to speak up. "I wanted to talk about Natalie".

"How is she? I know it hasn't been easy for her. She told me about the stalking......about you. She told me what you had to do to that man. How you took care of her".

Spencer sighed biting his bottom lip as he heard this. "She's doing okay. I mean she's getting better everyday. She still has nightmares sometimes though and I don't think she's that comfortable around strangers yet".

"I'm glad she has you Spencer. You probably saved her life, and I can't thank you enough for that. I can't think of anyone I'd rather have her with. You take good care of her". Brian stated as he managed to reach out and pat the younger man's back.

Spencer felt his cheeks burn slightly as he heard this. He'd never really thought about what happened. He'd never really thought about the fact that he'd saved Natalie's life that day. He'd just been so happy that she was alright that he hadn't bothered putting very much thought into it. "Thank you sir........I mean uh Brian. I need to ask you for your permission for something. It's important".

"Okay Spencer go ahead I'm all ears".

"I wanted to know if I could ask for your blessing.........I want to propose to Natalie and I wanted to make sure that you approve". Spencer stated feeling his cheeks turn even darker. He wasn't sure how much darker they could get.

Yes he knew asking her father for his blessing was extremely old fashioned, but it just seemed like the right thing to do. He actually hadn't thought about when he was going to ask Natalie to marry him, but he knew that he wanted to propose to her. He was more than sure that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

He widened his eyes as Brian reached out taking his hand and beginning to shake it. "I'd be more than approving. Welcome to the family Spencer".

Spencer finally pulled back from the handshake as he felt a small smile spread across his face. Welcome to the family. He'd never imagined how happy hearing those words could make him feel.


	13. Enlisting Help From Garcia

**Disclaimer will never change. Look to the first chapter to see it.**

**Please do review.**

Chapter Thirteen: Enlisting Help From Garcia

Natalie couldn't help but to giggle as she felt Spencer once again begin to press soft kisses along her shoulder blades. She spoke up still giggling "No Spence. Not again".

"But Why? It's so much fun. Besides I can't help the fact that your so beautiful and I could never even try to keep my hands off of you even if my life depended on it". He stated wining a bit as he let his hands slide under the tangled bedsheets and caress her sides.

She felt her cheeks flush hearing these compliments. She managed to turn over and face him. She bit her bottom lip trying to stop herself from giggling more at the fact that he was attempting to give her a begging look sticking his bottom lip out in the process.

She spoke up reaching up and running her hand through his messy hair. " I'm way too exhausted and If I'm this exhausted I know you have to be".

He frowned pouting as he heard this. He spoke up trying to fight back a yawn that was threating to work it's way out of his mouth. "I'm not tired honestly I'm not".

She shook her head knowing that he had to be completely exhausted. She could tell. His eyes were getting heavy and he looked as though he could happily collapse into their bed at any given moment.

She bit her bottom lip trying to fight giving into him as she felt him begin to press kisses to the side of her face. She bit her lip even harder feeling her eyelids begin to flutter slightly as she felt him begin to press kisses and nibble at the spot where her neck met her shoulder. She knew that it her weak spot. He could kiss her there and most of her self control would slide out the window.

She somehow managed to pull back from his kisses and love bites before she spoke up. "No Spencer. It's late and you have work tomorrow. Besides you don't want to go in exhausted and have to listen to Morgan's comments about what we do in the bedroom now do you"?

He widened his eyes as she said this. He knew that Morgan wouldn't fail to make a comment if he came in half asleep.

He sighed reluctantly giving in to her as he laid back on his pillow enjoying the way he always seemed to sink into their bed.

She cuddled up to him resting her head on his chest running hand along his stomach. "So what did my dad pull you aside to talk about when we let them off at their gate"?

He felt his cheeks begin to turn pink as he remembered exactly what her father had said to him when they walked them to their gate and said their goodbyes.

Her father had pulled him far away from Natalie and whispered to him an order to please not to elope with Natalie in Vegas. Not that he was really planing on getting married at some all night chapel on the strip.

He knew that Natalie would never once in a million years go for that. She'd want a nice comfortable little wedding with all the people they cared about around them.

He knew he couldn't exactly blurt out what Brian Donovan had said to him, since he hadn't exactly proposed to her yet. He hadn't even bought a ring yet.

He spoke up hoping that he sounded convincing. "He just had some last minute fatherly advice. You know treat you right, always take care of you, keep you happy, and other things like that".

She smiled as she heard this. She managed to lean up and press a soft kiss to his lips before she spoke up. "Awe Spence. I don't think he has anything to worry about. Your amazing to me".

He felt his cheeks burn as she said this. She kissed his lips once again as she spoke up in a soft relaxed voice. "Good night Spence".

* * *

Spencer couldn't help but to have a huge smile on his face as he entered the bullpen carrying his usual large cup of to go coffee. He always stopped and got the biggest cup of coffee possible from a coffee shop that wasn't very far from Natalie's and his house.

He took his coat off laying it over the back of his chair as he heard Emily speak up. "Hey Reid how was your Thanksgiving"?

"Yeah how was it Reid"? Morgan spoke up grinning at the fact that Spencer reached up and pulled the collar of his light blue dress shirt up in an attempt to hide the hickeys that were scattered across his neck.

"Good. How was yours"? He stated dropping messengers bag off under his desk.

He heard two different answers. He heard an it was good from Morgan and an it was okay from Emily. Everyone knew it was no secret that Emily didn't enjoy spending very much time around her mother.

"Hey is Garcia in yet? I really need to talk to her". He questioned avoiding eye contact with Morgan.

"Yeah she's in". Emily responded raising her eyebrows a bit.

"Okay thanks". He said as he turned around quickly making his way towards Garcia's office leaving a puzzled looking Emily and Morgan behind.

He sighed as he reached up and knocked on her closed office door.

He wasn't surprised to hear a cheery sounding voice coming from the other side of the door. "Enter".

He opened the door timidly walking in as he reached up and tucked his hair behind his ears.

Garcia smiled brightly as she saw Reid. "Hey sweet face. Did you have a good Thanksgiving"?

"Yeah it was okay". He stated laying his coffee cup on top of one of the filing cabinets beside the door. He knew she'd murder him if he got his coffee near any one of her _babies._

He spoke up staring down at his shoes. "Hey can I ask you to do me a favor"?

She nodded speaking up as she pushed her red cat eye framed glasses up. "Sure go ahead".

"Okay you can't tell anyone though. Not Morgan not Emily or JJ, and especially not Natalie". He stated bitting his bottom lip a little.

She widened her eyes leaning closer to him not helping to feel even more curious about what this favor was.

"I know this is weird, but I really don't know any other girls that I trust enough to ask for this kind of help. I need someone to........go shopping with me so I can get an engagement ring for Natalie. I guess I need a girl to come with me so I can get a second opinion from a girls point of view". He stated very quickly as he felt his cheeks begin to turn a dark shade of pink.

Garcia felt a large grin spread across her face. "Oh Reid. Sweet pea. That is so great".

She stood up and embraced him in a tight hug. Hugging him almost the way a mother would hug a young child. He spoke up finally looking up at her. "So thats a yes? I mean you'll help me look for a ring"?

She grinned even more nodding her head as she finally let go of Reid. "Of course Reid. Just leave it up to me and we'll find the perfect engagement ring for Natalie".

He nodded his head hoping that she was right. The ring needed to be perfect just like Natalie. Hopefully Garcia was the right choice to help him find the perfect ring


	14. A Tree and Perfect

**Disclaimer remains the same.**

**Please do review**

Chapter Fourteen: A Tree and Perfect

Spencer sighed as he reached down and put his car into park which wasn't as easy as it should be. Considering he seriously felt as though his heart was going to beat out of his chest and his hands were shaking badly.

He was sure that he'd never been so anxious in his entire life. He had ended up lying to Natalie and telling her that he was going out to go Christmas gift shopping.

Well he guessed that this really wasn't a lie. He was shopping today so technically he was telling her the truth.

He could admit that he was worried though. He was terrorfied that Natalie wouldn't like the ring. Yes he knew that this was probably an unreasonable fear.

After all he'd never once given her anything that she didn't like. She still did often wear a charm bracelet that he'd bought her when they were only eighteen years old.

She said that it was one of her favorite pieces of jewelry which he could admit surprised him a little. It wasn't like It was that impressive. It was just a simple silver chain with tiny little butterfly and flower shaped charms connected to it.

He had given it to her when she'd graduated high school and she seemed to adore it. So maybe that was a good sign that he had an idea of what she liked.

He widened his eyes when he was taken out of his daze by the sound of Garcia's amused voice. "Reid...hey sweet pea are we just going to sit in the parking lot all day or we going to go in there and find the future Mrs. Reid a ring"?

He felt his cheeks flush as he heard this. He managed to speak up making his voice squeak a bit. "I haven't even asked her yet".

She giggled a bit amused by his surprised voice. "Yeah and your point is? She's going to say yes trust me I know she will. I think that the girls and I have hung around her enough to know that she completely and totally adores you".

He felt his cheeks turn even darker as he began to stare straight ahead of him at the entrance of the shopping center in front of them.

It had taken him forever to find a jewelry store that seemed appropriate for what he was looking for. He already had a specific idea of the type of ring he wanted. He knew that it wasn't going to be easy to find something that he felt secure with giving her though.

He was slightly surprised that Garcia could be so sure that Natalie would want to marry him. It wasn't like Natalie and he had ever really seriously discussed the idea of marriage before. So he really did feel like he was taking a huge risk with this whole thing.

Then again there was always a chance that he was just over analyzing this all. Natalie did love him and love was what made a marriage work right? Well that and a lot of devotion and hard work.

After all marriage was supposed to be forever, and you had to love someone to really truly love them to even want to think about spending the rest of your life with them. The person you wanted to grow old with had to be incredible. Okay so incredible probably wasn't the best word to use.

After all he had an abundance of education and knowledge of words bigger and better than incredible. But if you were willing to spend every waking moment with someone then they had to be just incredible.

He did think that Natalie was quite incredible. So marriage would more than likely work for them.

"Reid are we going in yet"? Garcia stated shaking her head a bit as she reached down to take her seatbelt off.

He nodded his head feeling his hands shake even more as he reached down to remove his seatbelt.

They somehow managed to make their ways into the shopping center and locate the jewelry store. He felt light headed as he approached the sales desk finding someone whom didn't look too busy.

He felt a tight knot begin to develop in his chest as the young blond sales girl whom probably couldn't be a day over twenty, spoke up in a unusually cheery voice. "How can I help you"?

"We uh I ne-need to......well I'd like to see some... engagement rings". He stated feeling heart began to beat a little faster. He was beginning to worry that his heart might pop right out of his chest if it beat any harder.

She smiled ignoring the fact that he'd stumbled over his words. She smiled even brighter as she looked over to Garcia. "I see. Are you the lucky lady"?

He widened his eyes feeling his face turn a bright shade of pink as he heard this comment. Garcia spoke up looking highly amused at this question. She spoke up glancing over at Spencer. "No I'm not the lucky lady. I am a friend of the lucky lady and the lucky man though".

The sales girl nodded looking a bit embarrassed for assuming that the two were fiancées as she leaned over and pulled out a quite a few large display cases. She spoke up looking at Spencer. "This is the newest selection that's come in".

He nodded feeling his palms sweat as he let his eyes scan the assortment of rings. He glanced over at Garcia as she spoke up in an excited voice pointing down at one of the rings causing the bright red and purple bangles on her wrist to jingle as she shook her arm a bit. "What about this one"?

He raised his eyebrows glancing down at the ring that she'd pointed out. He bit his bottom lip trying to make an attempt to stop himself from making a face.

The ring was large to say the least with a bright pink shiny gem in the center of it that happened to be surrounded with tiny darker pink stones around the gem. He swallowed the lump in his throat saying the first thing that popped up in his head. "No that wont work. I mean yeah it's pretty, but it's just not Natalie".

Garcia nodded her head as she looked over at him. "Okay then. What's something that she'd like"?

"I guess that she'd want something simple, but it would still have to be beautiful. Elegant I guess. I think she would like it to have a sort of vintage feel to it too. She does like antiques". He stated letting his eyes scan the display cases once again.

He stopped as his eyes spotted it. He may have just found the perfect ring.

* * *

It wasn't too terribly late by the time Spencer had made it home after dropping Garcia off at her apartment complex.

The sun was just barley setting giving him a little bit of warmth as he made his way up the sidewalk towards the front door. It had been freezing cold lately which meant that the roads, the driveway, and the sidewalk had all developed a thin slick sheet of ice. Which made it a bit hard to walk and drive.

He stuck his hands in the pockets of his coat running his hand along the small velvet box that was currently taking residence in his right pocket.

He raised his eyebrows feeling a but surprised at the sight that he saw as he walked though the front door.

"Natalie darling what are you doing"? He stated giving his girlfriend a confused look as he watched her shuffle though a big knot of bright multi colored Christmas tree lights.

The living room seemed to be completely rearranged to accommodate a large Christmas tree that he was sure hadn't been there this morning when he'd left.

She spoke up as if it was completely obvious what she was doing "Getting ready to decorate a Christmas tree. I went out and got it earlier. It wasn't easy to set up I'll have you know. I wanted to surprise you though".

He shook his head sighing a little "Well you surprised me. Why are you setting one up? We aren't going to be here for Christmas".

She shook her head smiling. "I know, but we still need somewhere to put the gifts. I know were going to mail the gifts to Vegas so we don't have to take them on the plane with us, but we'll need someplace to put them until we send them. So how was did the Christmas shopping go"?

"Okay. I really didn't get it all finished". He stated staring down at floor hoping that his face wouldn't give away what he'd really been doing.

"Thats too bad. I guess We can just go out tomorrow and see if we can finish it together.". She stated frowning as she stared down at another knot that had somehow developed in the tree lights.

He nodded his head managed to walk over to her and take the lights out of her hands as he made an attempt to untangle the wires.

She kissed his lips quickly before speaking up. "I'll go see if I can sort through all the other stuff. I hope you like candy canes. I bought loads of them because they were on sale".

This was going to be an interesting Christmas to say the least.


	15. Shopping is Often Hard to Do

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Chapter Fifteen: Shopping is Often Hard To Do

Spencer let out frustrated sigh as he attempted to make his way though the hordes of late holiday shoppers. He was just grateful that they were almost completely finished with their shopping.

He'd never really liked shopping. He usually avoided it. Yes getting new things was fun and all, but having to make your way though the crowds people wasn't very pleasant. Mainly because dealing with crowds of complete strangers wasn't one of his strong points.

Why out of all the places in the world did they have to choose to go to the mall?

Well actually he knew why. The mall was probably the only place in the world where you could find anything and everything you could need when it came to giving gifts.

They'd already shopped for almost everyone in Natalie's family. They'd even bought his team some gift cards that he was planning on giving to them when he went back to work after the holidays.

He let out a sigh of relief as Natalie finally managed to lead him into an much less crowded store letting him escape from the crowds.

He frowned feeling a bit confused as she spoke up "So what do you think"?

"What do I think about what"? He stated feeling a bit clueless as he stared at the assortment of thick pink, red, black, and white robes stacked up high on the shelf in front of them.

She rolled her eyes as she heard his response. She spoke up again motioning her hands towards the robes. "What do you think about getting one of these for you mom"?

He felt his throat tighten as he managed to speak up making his voice squeak a little. "My mom? I mean were getting her a gift"?

"Yeah I just thought it would be nice since we are going to visit her and all. Your okay with it right? I mean do you think she'll like it? I didn't really know what kind of things she'd really like. So I thought that maybe a robe or something like that would a be a safe bet". She stated beginning to feel a little anxious.

Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to buy his mother a Christmas present after all. Judging by the look on his face she'd caught him completely off guard with this.

He nodded his head speaking up. "Yeah It's okay. I think she'll like it. I mean I usually buy her books and things like that".

"Well maybe we should buy her a book then". She stated getting ready to turn around and fight her way though the crowds again.

"No this will work. I mean when I usually get her books she usually complains that their lesser works. So your right a robe probably would be a safe bet".

She nodded hoping he was right. She was unusually nervous about visiting his mother. Sure she'd met her before, but she'd never met her as Spencer's girlfriend before.

She was just trying not to let her nerves get the best of her. She knew that this was important to Spencer and she really didn't want to let him down. She wanted to make the best impression possible.

She knew how hard it was on him having to visit his mom. She just wanted to make it as pleasant as possible.

* * *

Spencer widened his eyes as he heard Natalie shut the passengers door to his car and speak up. "Are you okay? You not acting like yourself".

He felt his stomach churn as he felt her reach out across the armrest and rub his arm gently. He spoke up telling the truth. "It's just work".

"Is it because that last case. I mean I know you said that it went kind of badly". She stated bitting her bottom lip.

She didn't know exactly what had happened during the last case. All she knew was that he had come home late and he didn't seem to want to talk about it.

He sighed nodding his head. The last case had been horrible.

Frank had come back and it hadn't ended well. Gideon hadn't really talked about it since it had happened. He'd just come back to work and ignored it.

He spoke up swallowing the lump in his throat "It's just Gideon. I'm really worried about him since the last case. He's seemed a little off. I mean I know it wasn't easy on him. I've tried to talk about it with him, but he just acts like he wants to avoid it. I don't know maybe I'm just looking into it too much".

She managed to lean over the armrest as she kissed his cheek gently. "I'm sure it'll all work out. I mean if theres really something bothering him then I'm sure he'll talk to you about it".

He nodded his head hoping that she was right. Maybe if there was something going on then Gideon would be sure to talk to him.

He spoke up completely changing the subject "So we're finished with all this Christmas shopping right"?

She nodded her head as she spoke up. "Yes. I just have to get a few more gifts for you, and I have no idea if you've gotten any gifts for me yet".

He nodded knowing that he was planning on getting her a gift or two tomorrow. He really had no idea what he was going to get her though. They'd already decided that they were going to exchange more than one gift.

He knew that he had to get it all done soon especially considering they were going to have to mail all the gifts to Vegas soon.

"How many relatives will there be at your house over Christmas"? He stated feeling his stomach churn at the thought of meeting tons of new people.

He was finally off work for the holidays and they would be leaving for Vegas in less than a week. He was just hoping it would all work out okay.

She smiled shrugging a bit as she settled back into her seat and spoke up. "Lots of Aunts and Uncles. A few cousins. A couple of great aunts. And then my dad, my grandma, my brother, and my niece".

"That many people"? He stated beginning to feel his heart beat a little faster at the thought.

"Yeah. It'll work out. Just be yourself okay. Their bound to love you if just act like yourself. We already know that my dad, my grandma, my brother and my niece adore you right". She stated as she attempted to give him a comforting smile.

He nodded his head as he leaned over the armrest and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. Hopefully she was right. He just wanted their first Christmas as a couple to be a pleasant one.


	16. Floating Devices and Hotel Rooms

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Chapter Sixteen: Floating Devices and Hotel Rooms

Natalie shifted in her seat as she attempted to pay attention to the flight attendant demonstrate what to do in case of an emergency. The task was harder than it should be considering the plane seemed to be full of traveling families that all seemed to want to argue with each other.

She had no idea why she was trying to pay attention anyway. The procedures never changed: your seats could be used as a floating device, an oxygen mask would come down from the overhead compartment, make sure to keep your seat belts on.

To tell the truth she really didn't see how much good any of that would do you. Who cared if your seat could be used as a floating device. That didn't seem to be helpful in an emergency when the only place you were probably going was down into a fiery heap.

Okay so fine she might be a little afraid of flying......well more than a little afraid. The whole thing just seemed so unnatural. Humans weren't meant to fly. If they were meant to fly then the powers that be would have given them wings. She was just attempting to keep calm.

She turned her head as she felt Spencer take her hand.

"Are you sure that you don't want the window seat"? He stated squeezing her hand gently.

She spoke up a little bit too quickly "No......I mean no thanks I'm fine really".

He raised his eyebrows nodding his head "Okay if your sure".

They both turned their heads attempting to hear over the screaming kids and scolding parents as they tried to hear what the flight attendant was saying.

The flight from Washington DC to Las Vegas Nevada would be about four hours and ten minutes. Neither of them were sure that they could make it that long with their sanity still intact.

They were lucky that they'd even made it to their flight on time. Mainly because Spencer had packed all his bags at the last minute and Natalie had ended up having to pack something a little extra that Spencer couldn't exactly see her packing.

To tell the truth she felt a bit ridiculous about buying it. Mainly because it was a known fact that men didn't exactly take the time to admire lingerie so what was the point in taking the time to go out and buy it?

She felt a little weird about the fact that she was planning on wearing it. Though it wasn't like it was really risky or anything like that. It was just a simple silky dark red baby doll. It seemed like it was the right color for the holidays.

She guessed she had bought it because she wanted to do something special for him something romantic.

Yes she knew that Spencer Reid thought that he was completely lacking in the romance department, but he wasn't really. He did tons of romantic things for her without even being that aware that he was doing them.

The flight attendant finally quit lecturing on plane safety and walked off towards the front of the plane to get the drink cart.

Spencer got distracted by a family a few seats away from them. He frowned slightly as he listened to the older couple argue with their teenage daughter whom had a number piercings along her ears not to mention a shiny silver ring in her left nostril.

"Your taking those out when we get to grandma's house. You know she doesn't approve of those piercings". He heard the older man state dryly.

The teenager spoke up rolling her eyes as she took her headphones off "No I'm not".

"Don't give me an attitude young lady". The older women stated.

"You never let me have any freedom". The girl whined shoving her headphones back on before she gave Spencer a dirty look obviously not pleased that he'd been evesdropping.

Spencer swallowed the lump in his throat as he tore his eyes away from the family. He managed to lean over and whisper in Natalie's ear. "If we ever have kids we're sending them away when they get that age".

She smirked slightly as she heard this statement. She spoke up whispering back in his his ear. "Spence kids are going to rebel. I'd be worried if our kid didn't rebel".

He felt his stomach churn a bit as he heard this. He honestly couldn't imagine that the day would come when he would be scolding their teenage son or daughter for breaking the curfew or wearing something that he didn't exactly approve of.

He frowned shaking his head a bit as he tried to shake this thought out of his head. He was getting a bit ahead of himself worrying about this. After all he hadn't even proposed yet and he was already worrying about their hypothetical children turning into teenagers.

He attempted to adjust his seatbelt hoping that he could find a way to relax during the rest of this flight.

* * *

They were both a bit exhausted by the time they'd finally made it to their hotel room. They'd decided to get a hotel room mainly because the idea of staying at her father's house with a ton of relatives didn't seem that appealing.

Natalie was almost ready to run up to the bed and collapse on it, but she quickly changed her mind as they opened the door.

"This is really nice Spencer". She stated widening her eyes slightly as she stared around the room.

It was quite nice. A large king sized bed with very comfortable looking pillows and a heavy comforter, with sheets that she was sure had a pretty high thread count.

The room had a nice view though they were only on the forth floor, there was a couch instead of the usual chair or two, there was a small bouquet of red roses sitting out on a bar next to the couch. Even the bathroom seemed to be a little nicer than the typical room. A nice big bathtub and a large shower stall.

He managed to lay their suitcases down at the end of the bed as he watched her examine the room with widened eyes.

She spoke up again sitting down beside him. "Spence if you would of told me that you were getting a nicer room then I would have chipped in and helped pay for it".

"It's okay. I just wanted us to stay somewhere nice". He stated staring over at her as she laid back on the bed.

"I think I'm going to take a long nap. I couldn't sleep on that plane". She stated as she managed to take her jacket off without bothering to sit up.

He nodded his head knowing that she was freaked out by flying. She never said that she was, but he could tell. She hadn't let go of his hand during the entire flight. Her eyes widened and her grip on his hand got tighter every time there was even a little bit of turbulence.

He leaned over and kissed her forehead as he spoke up "Okay I'm going to call your dad and tell him that we got in okay and make sure those gifts made it to his house. Then I'll see about ordering room service for dinner. Do you want me to just pick something out for you and order it or do you want me to wake you up when I order".

"Just pick me something out". She stated as she felt her eyes begin to get a little heavy.

He nodded his head as he got up from the bed carefully so he wouldn't make it shift too much as he made his way over to the phone and prepared to dial her father's number.

Christmas was only four days away now and tomorrow they would be visiting his mother. He was a bit anxious about this, but he had he feeling that it would all work out somehow.


	17. The Visit

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Chapter Seventeen: The Visit

Spencer felt as though his heart was going to beat out of his chest as he walked down the wide long halls of Bennington Sanitarium.

He felt Natalie squeeze his hand gently as she walked along behind him. He let out a sigh of relief grateful that she was still there. He had half expected her to turn the other way and run when they'd entered the building.

Most people would have run far away in this situation. Even he wanted to run away. This defiantly wasn't one of his favorite things in the world to do.

Every visit with his mother was different from the last one. Sometimes she was angry with him. She would yell at him and ask him why he'd had her sent here. Other times his visits would be pleasant. His mother would be loving towards him. She would want to ask him about work and give him advice on the things that were bothering him.

Then there were the times when she would be a little out of touch with what was going on around her. She would ignore him and stare down at her notebooks. Occasionally she would want him to sit through a lecture or two as long as he'd read the material of course. There was really no way of telling which visit they'd be experiencing.

He felt his palms begin to sweat when they'd reached their destination. He felt as though his head was swimming as he reached up and knocked on the door that had a shiny sign on it that stated: Dr. Norman.

He always made sure to check in with the doctor before he went to see his mother. He just wanted to check on his mother's condition. It was sort of a way to prepare for the visit.

He entered the office with Natalie right behind him. He wasn't surprised to be warmly greeted by the doctor as soon as she saw him.

Dr. Norman spoke up sounding very excited. "Your mother is going to be so thrilled that your here. She talks about you all the time. She tells everyone about you, nurses other patients anyone who'll listen".

He nodded his head knowing that his mother's doctor told him this every single time he visited.

He spoke up feeling as though his throat was going to close up and never open back up again at any second. "How's she doing"?

"Okay. She has her good days and her bad days. She spends most of her time reading books and your letters of course. She is staying on her medication though. Like I said it'll make her happy to see you". She stated.

"Can we see her right now"? He stated feeling his stomach begin to churn.

"Yes but you already know if she's having a bad day you'll have to leave. She's in the recreation room". She stated as she gave Natalie a curious glance probably noticing that this was the first time Dr. Spencer Reid ever brought someone with him to see his mother.

Spencer nodded his head ignoring the doctor's curious looks. "Okay thank you".

They quickly made their way out of the office as Spencer led the way towards the recreation room knowing exactly where it was.

Natalie followed along slightly wide eyed as she examined the sights around her. To tell the truth she hadn't expected this hospital to be so nice. She'd actually expected it to look more like a hospital, but it looked more like a home than anything else.

That was the one thing Spencer hadn't wanted when he'd been looking for a place to send his mother. He'd wanted it to be as nice and as comfortable as possible. He knew that his mother despised hospitals and he wanted her to be somewhere that felt at least a little bit like a home.

The bills were high for her to stay here, but he knew that it was worth every single dollar. He'd already arranged everything for her to stay here even if something happened to him he'd made sure that the payments would keep coming.

They'd finally made it to the recreation room as Spencer automatically spotted her. He let out a sigh of relief grateful to see that she seemed to be in a pleasant mood. She was sitting by herself on a sofa reading a book.

He felt Natalie once again give his hand a comforting squeeze as they made their way towards his mother.

Diana Reid automatically looked up as she felt someone standing over her. She raised her eyebrows completely surprised to see her son. She spoke up giving him a questioning look. "Spencer? Are you here on a case? You work so much".

He shook his head as he spoke up. "No mom. We came to see you".

"Oh good. It depresses me that you work so much. It would be horrible if you had to do something so sad during the holidays". She stated closing her book as she sat it down on her lap.

He nodded his head as he managed to speak up pulling Natalie a little closer towards him. "Mom you remember Natalie Donovan right? She used to live next door to us. I wrote you about her. She's my girlfriend".

She nodded her head giving him a surprised look. "Of course I remember".

He let out a sigh of relief grateful that she'd remembered and that she hadn't repeated any thing slightly embarrassing that he may have written in the note that he'd sent her.

She spoke up again shaking her head. "Spencer you are far too thin. It's all that coffee you know".

She paused before she glanced over at Natalie. "Don't you think that he's too thin? Don't let him drink so much coffee. I always tell him that he shouldn't drink that much. It stunts his growth".

Natalie smiled softly as she nodded her head agreeing, even though she really didn't think that he was too thin. "Okay I'll keep an eye on him".

Spencer felt his cheeks turn a dark shade of pink as he heard this conversation. They turned even darker as Natalie gave him a teasing look.

He mother spoke up as she laid her book on the coffee table and reached down picking up a photo album that he hadn't realized had been sitting there.

She spoke up looking up at Natalie. "Do you want to see some pictures of him? I have tons of them from when he was a newborn. He was just the most precious baby. I have a few of his graduation photos. I had to order him a special cap and gown when he graduated. He could have been valedictorian, but he was so frightened of giving speeches".

Spencer felt his cheeks turn pink once again as he heard this and Natalie pulled him along to sit on the sofa beside his mother. This was going to be one interesting visit to say the least.

* * *

Natalie shut the door of the rental car once they'd made it out to the parking lot. She let out a little yelp of surprise as Spencer pulled her over to him and locked his lips with hers.

He kissed her deeply placing his hand on her cheek and letting the other hand slowly run through her hair not wanting her to pull away from him anytime soon.

He kissed her with little playful nibbles on her bottom lip and made sure to let his tongue slowly battle with hers. The time came when they both needed to breathe and he reluctantly pulled away from her leaving her more than a little breathless.

She spoke up making him blush. "Jeez Spence what was that all about"?

He spoke up swallowing the lump in his throat. "I guess I just wanted to thank you. You know for doing that with me".

She smirked speaking up. "Well If that's my reward I'll be sure to do things with you more often. You don't have to really thank me though. I wanted to go with you".

He nodded grateful to hear her say that. She spoke up again letting her curiosity take over. "Your mom doesn't know about what happened to you in Georgia does she"?

He turned slightly pale as he heard this. He turned in his seat facing her as he answered her question. "No she doesn't know. I just couldn't tell her. I mean she worries about me, and it would kill her if she knew that something like that happened to me. I'm all she has. I mean her parents died when she was a teenager, she doesn't have any siblings and god only knows where my dad is. I'm the only family she has left".

She nodded her head understanding. She knew how his kidnapping had effected him. He still had nightmares about it and then there had been the dilaudid of course. He still had a hard time maintaining his sobriety though he'd started attending meetings.

She reached out placing her hand on his cheek as she spoke up. "She has both of us now".

He nodded his head feeling thankful to hear something so sincere. He ran his hand through her hair as he spoke up wanting to ask her something as well. "Do you still have nightmares about the stalking"?

She felt her stomach drop as she heard this. He knew that she'd had the nightmares right after the stalking, but it seemed like it had been so long since that had happened though she knew it hadn't been that long ago.

"Yeah I'm still having them. Do they ever stop"? She stated bitting her bottom lip.

He sighed wishing he could tell her that they would, but he knew the truth. "No they don't. It gets a little better with time though".

She nodded wanted to change the subject desperately bad. "Hey lets go swimming in the pool when we get back to the hotel. I'll teach you how to swim so you don't have to stay at the shallow end".

He blushed slightly as he heard this. Yes at twenty five almost twenty six years old he still couldn't swim all that well. He could force himself to swim a little when he truly needed to, but his attempts at swimming for fun usually ended with him sinking.

"As fun as the idea of you attempting to drown me sounds. I already made some plans for us". He stated smiling.

She rolled her eyes playfully reaching out and slapping his arm. "I would never let you drown and you know it. So what kind of plans do you have".

"I was thinking that we could have a quiet romantic night alone in our hotel room". He stated beginning to get a little anxious.

"That sounds nice". She stated as she leaned up and kissed his cheek.

He nodded his head hoping that it would in fact be nice.


	18. A Night Alone

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Chapter Eighteen: A Night Alone

Spencer let his eyes scan the room for the third time in a row attempting to make sure that everything was in it's place. So far everything looked good.

He'd made sure that room service had brought over dinner which consisted of two ceaser salads, a bottle of white wine, and two slices of some sort of sweet cherry and chocolate cake, since Natalie really liked cherries. He didn't want their dinners to be too ridiculously large considering they'd already eaten a large lunch with his mother.

He'd lit a couple of small white candles in the middle of the small room service table. Though he could admit he'd tried to keep things pretty simple mainly because he didn't want to give away too much of a hint of what he was planning on doing tonight.

He was already nervous enough as it was. He didn't need the extra stress of spreading out roses, or lighting dozens of candles, and putting on music, or anything else like that. With his luck if he attempted to do all of that he would set a fire with one of the candles or poke himself with a rose thorn.

He looked up towards the closed bathroom door as he heard the soft splashing of water followed by Natalie's voice. "Spencer are you sure you don't want to get in with me? The waters still warm and theres more than enough room in this tub for the two of us".

He swallowed the lump in his throat as he spoke up reluctantly "No I'm okay. Maybe later".

She raised her eyebrows a little surprised to hear this. She usually had a hard time keeping him out of the bathroom with her when she was in the bathtub or the shower.

She was pretty sure he was up to something after all he'd been pretty insistent that she relax in the bath as soon as they'd gotten back to the hotel. She just wasn't sure what he was up too.

She sighed shaking her head and sinking back into the tub. She was sure she'd figure it out soon enough whatever it was.

It seemed like she'd been in the bathtub for an eternity before she finally exited the bathroom wearing a pair of her plain gray pajama pants and a black t shirt.

She spoke up feeling a little surprised to see the candles in the center of the table. "Spence I thought you were just going to let me order us a pizza or something like that".

"A pizza didn't seem all that romantic". He stated shrugging his shoulders as he stared down at the pale carpet below him knowing that his face couldn't give it all away if he wasn't looking at her.

They both finally set down and began to eat as she spoke up once again. "Do you think your mom liked her gift"?

"Yeah I mean my mom's the type of person who'll tell you if she doesn't like something". He stated as he opened the bottle of wine and poured their glasses.

He knew that was the truth. His mother was never the type of person to be censored on what she thought which could be embarrassing in most situations.

She nodded her head grateful to hear that considering she hadn't been too sure how Diana Reid had felt about the pink robe they'd given her earlier that day. She really hadn't said much about it, but if Spencer said she liked it. Then she must have liked it.

"So do you think I'm going to be able to visit her again or is this the last time I'm coming with you"? She stated wanting to know considering this had been bothering her since he'd asked her to come along with him at Thanksgiving.

He widened his eyes as she heard her say that. "Yeah of course your going to get to visit my mom with me again. I mean I love you and I need you there to visit her with me. I think it kind of makes it easier to tell the truth".

She smiled surprised to hear him say that. To tell the truth she thought that it made it harder her being there to visit his mother. After all visiting his mother was hard on him. It always made him feel guilty because he was the one that had her sent there even though it was for her own good.

He spoke up again as she was about to pull her dessert plate over towards her. "You know that I love you so much right"?

She smiled slightly as she spoke up "I know Spence I love you too".

He swallowed the lump in his throat as he reached down and pulled his napkin out of his lap with shaking hands before he managed to get down on both knees in front of her.

She spoke up widening her eyes. "Spencer sweetheart what in the world are you doing"?

"Just hold on and let me do this okay honey". He stated reaching down into his sweater pocket grateful that he'd remembered to wear the sweater with pockets today.

She bit her bottom lip staring down at him as he spoke up. "You know that your my best friend in the entire world right"?

"Of course I know that. Your my best friend too". She stated.

He spoke up again. "We've been best friends for a long time now. I know that we really haven't been in a romantic relationship all that long. I mean most people have been you know a serious couple for years. I know that our romantic relationship probably didn't start out in the most traditional of ways. I wouldn't change a thing about it though. I mean I trust you with my life and I know that you trust me with yours. I know we can tell each other anything. I can't imagine spending a day without seeing you or hearing your voice. So I guess what I'm trying to ask you is will you marry me"?

She felt a smile quickly spread across her face as she spoke up nodding her head knowing that she couldn't work out much more than a simple "Yes".

She somehow managed to lean down in the chair without falling out of it and kiss him deeply. They pulled back from the kiss when they both realized that they needed oxygen.

He finally pulled his hand out of his pocket pulling out the black velvet ring box with him. He spoke up shaking his head slightly "This took me forever to pick out. I took Garcia with me to pick it out and she kept on making really weird suggestions".

She giggled not really able to picture him shopping with Penelope Garcia. She watched as he opened the box to reveal a simple ring with a silver band and a medium sized oval white diamond in the center of it.

"You like it right. I mean I really wasn't sure about it. I wanted to get something sort of antique but I found this and I really liked it". He stated as he took it out of the box and slipped it on her finger more than grateful that it fit perfectly.

She nodded her head kissing him once again as she spoke up "I love it. It's really beautiful".

He finally managed to get up from off his knees as she stood up with him and kissed him once again. She pulled back from the kiss as she spoke up. "Why don't you go put the dessert and the wine in the mini fridge and I'm going to go change. I have a present for you".

He widened his eyes quickly pulling away from her and doing as she said as she made her way over to her suitcase and grabbed his _present_ with out him seeing what she was getting.

He managed to put the dessert and the wine in the fridge. He went of the the table and put out the candles on the table and pushed it out of the room laying the tip on the table before he sat down on the edge of the bed feeling more than ready to see her.

She finally left the bathroom hoping that she wasn't blushing too much considering his eyes darkened a little at the sight of her in the ruby silky baby doll and matching lacy boy shorts.

She spoke up "So I take it that you like it"?

He nodded his head without any hesitation as he held his arms out towards her. "Uh huh come here".

She smirked a little as she made her way towards him knowing that he didn't have to tell her that more than once.


	19. Can't We Just Tell Them I'm Sick

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Chapter Nineteen: Can't We Just Tell Them I'm Sick

Spencer was the first to wake up the next Morning. He squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to get the sleep out of his tired eyes. He turned over making an attempt to examine the dim room.

The sunlight was just barely drifting in through the crack in the middle of the light blue hotel curtains. His clothing was strewn out around the room and to tell the truth he had no earthly idea where his gray tie had ended up. The ruby silk lingerie was now laying right beside the bed next to his plain black cotton boxers, both completely forgotten.

Empty dessert plates were laying on the coffee table left over from about one am this morning. When they'd decided that they were both quite hungry. They'd eaten their desserts before making their ways back over to the bed and making love once again for the second time that evening.

He turned back over gently in the bed connecting his eyes to her bare back. He smirked seeing her hair not helping but to notice that it was the exact definition of bed head.

He hesitantly reached out and smoothed down her medium length hair which looked like an even brighter shade of red thanks to the quickly brightening room.

She turned over opening her eyes as soon as his hand left her hair. She smiled not helping but to let out a sleepy yawn as she spoke up. "Good Morning Spence".

He nodded leaning over towards her and pressing his lips to hers hoping that the fact that he hadn't had a chance to brush his teeth or even use mouth wash yet wasn't way too offensive.

She kissed him back before finally breaking it and speaking up. "So I take it that last night was as amazing for you as it was for me"?

He nodded his head with out any hesitation as he spoke up blushing a tiny bit. "Yes. I think your going to have to buy some more baby dolls just like that one".

She smirked as she heard this feeling more than grateful that he'd liked it. She cuddled up to him resting her head on his chest as she once again noticed her engagement ring.

She couldn't help to admire it once again. She still couldn't get over the amazement that something so beautiful was actually hers and the fact that Spencer picked it out made it even more beautiful to her.

He smiled a little as he spoke up noticing the way she was looking at her ring. "So you really do like it right"?

"Yes I really do love it. It's the most beautiful thing anyones ever given me". She stated pressing a soft kiss to his chest.

She sighed as she spoke up managing to reluctantly work herself out of his arms. "I don't know about you but I really could use a shower".

He frowned watching her climb out of bed as she made her way towards the bathroom. She turned to face him before she spoke up raising her eyebrows. "Are you coming with me or what"?

He managed to scramble out of bed with out tripping on the bedsheets and falling flat on his face, knowing that she didn't have to invite him more than once.

---------------------

Natalie sighed as they finally left the bathroom. She frowned hearing the distinctive sound of her cell phone ringing.

She finally located it pulling it out of the pocket of her jeans before she put it up to her ear speaking up. "Hello"

Spencer frowned as he watched her talk on the phone. She spoke up rolling her eyes as she glanced over at the empty bed knowing that she wanted nothing more than to dry off throw on some pjs and get in it. "Robert this better be really good".

She rolled her eyes once again as she spoke up. "Well we were going to spend tonight alone just us, but okay we'll be there".

She finally hung up the phone as she looked over at Spencer. She spoke up shaking her head. "That was my brother. You and I are apparently going to my dad's house".

He frowned feeling a little disappointed to hear this. To tell the truth he wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed with her and only get out of bed to get snacks and use the restroom.

"Can't we just call them and tell them I'm sick and you have to stay here and take care of me". He stated hopefully.

She smiled shaking her head "Nope knowing my family they'd insist that you come anyway so they could stuff you with homemade soup and hot lemon and honey tea. My dad wants us there since it's Christmas eve. He wants to exchange half the gifts tonight. I know we were planning on spending Christmas eve alone just me and you. I'm sorry sweetie but I can't tell them no".

He nodded his head swallowing the lump in his throat. "I know it's not your fault. I like your family. I just wanted our first Christmas eve as a couple to be romantic. It's okay really. Is your entire family going to be there"?

"Yeah pretty much everyone will be there". She stated making her way towards her suitcase managing to find her clothing for today.

She sighed as she turned back around and saw his anxious expression. She made her way back towards him leaning up and kissing his cheek. "It'll be fine Spence. Look on the bright side my mom won't be there".

He nodded his head knowing that she knew exactly how he felt about her mother. He could never forgive her for anything she'd done to Natalie in the past. He couldn't forget all the ways her mother had harmed Natalie and scared her out of telling her father.

"I just don't want to embarrass you. I'm not exactly the most socially gifted person". He stated feeling his cheeks darken a little.

She rolled her eyes speaking up "Spencer you could never once in a million years embarrass me. I am getting married to you so I obviously don't care that your a little socially inept at times. I love you".

He blushed once again not helping but to smile a little as he heard this. "I know. I love you too. I just want us to have a good time".

"We will have a good time. I always have a good time when I'm with you". She stated kissing his cheek once again.

He nodded his head as he reluctantly made his way over to his suitcase. Hopefully she was right. They had to have a good time.


	20. The Entire Family

**Disclaimer remains the same.**

**Please do review.**

Chapter 20: The Entire Family

Spencer frowned a little as they finally pulled into the driveway of Natalie's father's house.

He swallowed the lump that was beginning to develop in the back of his throat as he noticed the amount of cars parked out in front of the house. There was several of them parked on the street and a few more of them parked in front of him.

At least her father had moved recently. He was thankful for this fact because it meant that he wouldn't have to go near his childhood home.

Not that he wasn't that bothered by the idea of seeing his childhood home. The idea of seeing it just gave him feel a cocktail of emotions. A little bit of happiness mixed with a bit of anxiety.

He had sold the house before he'd moved to Washington. He'd thought about keeping it, but he knew that it would be useless. He needed the money then to help pay for the bills that were coming in from Bennington.

He reached down putting the car into park before he spoke up glancing over at Natalie. "Does this tie look okay? I haven't worn it an at least two years. I just came across it the other day in my dresser and decided to pack it".

Natalie turned her head examining the navy blue and gray diagonally striped tie that he was currently wearing around his neck.

"Yeah it looks nice". She stated truthfully as she attempted to give him a comforting smile.

She was just trying to convince him that he had absolutely nothing to worry about. Everything he was wearing actually matched which was a rare occurrence for him.

After all he was the one that had once worn a green sweater vest an orange tie and a blue shirt all together. So needless to say his sense of fashion wasn't all that color coordinated.

He looked down as he reached up and attempted to to straighten his tie even though it was already quite straight.

She bit her bottom lip trying hard to stop herself from giggling as she saw him attempting to adjust his clothing once again. She spoke up shaking her head. "Spence it looks fine don't worry".

"Do you mean that it looks fine or it looks good. Because they both mean two different things. I mean fine just means that you look really bad but I'm going to try to be nice to you anyway. And Good means that you look really good and I mean it". He stated widening his eyes as he shoved his keys in the pocket of his sweater.

She rolled her eyes as she heard this. "Spence you look good ........better than good. You look great".

He nodded his head managing to get out of the car and lock the door behind him. Yes he knew he sounded crazy and he was carrying on a bit too much, but he really was nervous.

He'd never had to meet this many people at one time. Well unless you counted at work, but that was different. Work wasn't a social situation where he would have to attempt to make conversations with complete strangers.

Natalie managed to take his hand in hers as they walked up to the front door. She reached up with her free hand and rang the door bell only to have it quickly answered by one of her aunts.

She wasn't surprised that they were practically dragged in almost as soon as the door opened. She shook her head and sighed noticing the curious looks that quite a few of her relatives were already giving Spencer.

"Everyone this is Spencer Reid. Spence this is everyone" She stated knowing that doing it this way was much easier than having to go through every single one of her relatives.

She wasn't surprised that her hand was quickly taken as one of her aunts noticed the ring. She bit her bottom lip speaking up. "Spencer is my fiancée. He proposed last night".

Spencer turned bright red as soon as he heard this and all eyes turned to him. His face turned even darker as he was embraced in several hugs, given several congratulations, and given several kisses on the cheeks by a few of her aunts.

He had a feeling that Morgan would probably pay good money just to see the look on his face as this was happening to him.

He was finally released from the last hug as he was finally losing count of how many hugs and kisses on the cheeks he'd received.

He felt his stomach churn a little as he was basically left alone in the room. Most of the men in the room had wondered off towards the back room to watch the television and Natalie had been drug off to the kitchen by the women of her family.

He considered following Natalie, but then decided he may look a little odd standing in the middle of the kitchen surrounded by women.

He already knew that going to hang out in the back room with the men wasn't a good idea either. Considering they were probably watching sports and he had a tendency to blurt out weird facts during sporting events. This was the main reason Morgan had never invited him along to go to a sports bar with him.

He wondered off towards the living room widening his eyes as he saw the Christmas tree. It made the tree that Natalie had bought for them back home look tiny. He was more than surprised to see quite a few gifts sitting under the tree with his name on them as he walked up to the tree.

To tell the truth he'd only expected to get gifts from Natalie. He'd never expected her father or anyone else to give him anything.

He was also a little shocked to see that there was a bright red stocking with his name on it in gold cursive letters hanging over the mantle. It was hanging right next to Natalie's and it seemed to have quite a few things in it considering it was hanging as though the slightest touch could knock it down.

He widened his eyes as he noticed a little boy that couldn't be any older than three walk into the room. He frowned a little seeing that the child seemed to be almost completely covered in multi colored watercolor paints. He even had a few smudges of purple and red paint on his shirt and pants.

"Hi". He blurted out feeling a little silly talking to a child that obviously wasn't going to say anything back considering the little boy was just standing there staring up at him with wide curious eyes.

He jumped a little as Natalie walked into the room and shook her head speaking up as she noticed the child. "Conner. Did your sister paint you? I better get you to your mother".

She bent over and picked up the little boy grateful to see that the paint had dried. So it thankfully wouldn't be too hard to get off and it wouldn't get on her.

She opened her mouth to explain to Spencer that this was one of her many cousins children as she noticed another one of her cousin's children walk into the room.

She frowned a little seeing a little seeing Conner's sister walk into the room carrying a plastic paint brush. "Ella did you paint your brother? You know your parents told you not to open those paints without them there".

Spencer stared down at the girl that couldn't be any older than six. She spoke up frowning as she attempted to hide the paint brush behind her back. "Conner asked me too".

Natalie sighed shaking her head as she managed to lean up and kiss Spencer's cheek. She spoke up giving him a comforting look. "I'll be right back after I take these two to their mother".

He watched her as she walked away towards the back of the house. He couldn't help but wonder if thats what it would be like when they had children. He honestly was completely sure he'd be lost when it came to his own children getting into trouble

Needless to say he had a feeling that Natalie would have to handle things like that when it came to their hypothetical children. Sure he did fine around Natalie's niece, but he was sure he'd be clueless as to what to do if any of his children did things like that.

Natalie almost jumped out of her skin as she heard a familiar voice speak up. "So are Spencer and you going to be having any of those any time soon"?

She turned around to see her brother pointing off towards her cousin's children whom she had just handed off to their very unhappy mother.

She shrugged speaking up. "I don't know. We haven't really seriously discussed it offically. I mean we've joked about it but that's all thats been said on the subject".

"Mom called. She really wants to see you". Her brother stated completely changing the subject.

Natalie felt her stomach drop as she heard the mention of her mother. "I'll think about it. Now if you excuse me I'm going to go take Spence out back so he can play cards with dad. I'm pretty sure he's the only person he's going to feel sort of comfortable around".

And with that said she walked away before her brother had any chances to ask her why she wouldn't ever talk to their mother.

* * *

Thankfully all thoughts of her mother had been shoved far away to the back of her mind as she sat beside Spencer and watched her father open a gift.

Pretty much all of her relatives had gone back to their hotels leaving them with her father, her brother, her niece and her grandmother.

Spencer had thankfully felt his nerves eased when her relatives left. It hadn't been too terribly bad but it still had been a little awkward for him. He couldn't help but to feel out of place with so many people asking him questions and trying to carry on conversations with him.

He let out a sigh of relief as he saw that her father seemed to like the shirt that they'd bought him. He hadn't been sure what to buy any of her family members. So he was grateful to see that they'd all liked their gifts so far.

Natalie and he had bought her niece a doll, her grandmother a quilt, and her brother some kind of sports jersey.

Natalie had picked out most of these gifts considering Spencer had felt a bit clueless as to what to buy when they'd gone shopping.

He widened his eyes as Natalie handed him a heavy box with green wrapping paper. He raised his eyebrows seeing that it was from her.

He had only opened one gift from her so far and it had been a copy of the book Empty Planet. He'd had a copy a few months ago, but he'd accidentally left it at the subway station. So he'd been thankful to get another copy.

He had already gotten a sweater from her father and more than a few gift certificates for books from her brother and grandmother.

Natalie had already opened most of her gifts from him. The first gift had been a tiny gold locket necklace that she'd seemed to love. It contained a picture of them when they were children on one side and a recent picture of them on the other side.

The second gift had been a dark red scarf made of thick but soft material.

He gently ripped the paper off of his gifts and managed to tear the tape that was holding the box together.

He widened his eyes feeling a bit speechless as he pulled out the contents of the box. A chess set, and not just any chess set. An antique one with very detailed wooden hand carved pieces.

Natalie spoke up seeing his shocked face. "So I'm thinking that you must like it right"?

"Yeah I do. Natalie honey this must of cost a fortune". He stated staring down at it.

"Not really. I own an antique store remember? I saw it come in when I went by the store and I knew you'd like it". She stated shrugging a bit.

He nodded his head managing to lean over and kiss her cheek as he spoke up. "I love it thank you".

She managed to kiss his lips as he pulled away from her cheek, not caring that her family was sitting here witnessing it. He couldn't help but to smile a little into the kiss. This was probably the best Christmas he'd had in a long time.


	21. Plans and Erased Messages

**Disclaimer remains the same**

**Do review**

Chapter Twenty One: Plans and Erased Messages

Natalie tucked her hair behind her ears as she entered the busy restaurant and made an attempt to find her table through the crowds of people.

She was supposed to be meeting the girls for lunch and a little bit of shopping today. She highly doubted that she was the first one here considering Spencer had been less than willing to let her out of their bed this morning.

She had to hurry up and get ready this morning. So she'd just thrown on some clothing and make a lame attempt to put her hair into a messy bun even though she wanted nothing more than to crawl right back into bed.

She didn't' think anyone could blame her for wanting that. Spencer and she were both exhausted after their late flight in last night. They had made it home at about three am this morning.

Needless to say they both wanted nothing more than to lay in bed and sleep all day long. She had already made plans with the girls today though. So that idea of just lounging around all day was out of the question.

She finally spotted the table and made her way over to it only to have Garcia speak up holding her hand out towards her. "Okay show us the ring. I want to get a closer look".

Natalie widened her eyes feeling her cheeks darken a little as she heard this. She held her hand out placing it in Garcia's.

She was thankful that she'd had enough time to do her make up this morning considering her cheeks darkened more as she heard all three of the girls speak up at once.

"It's so beautiful. I can't believe Reid picked this out". JJ stated raising her eyebrows.

"So Reid really picked this out without anyone pointing it out to him"? Emily questioned looking over at Garcia.

"Of course he did I was there when he bought it, He was the one that spotted it. So how did he ask? I mean did he get down on his knees and all that good stuff"? Garcia stated as she looked up at Natalie.

Natalie swallowed the lump in her throat quickly deciding that she would leave out some of the more intimate details including the lingerie.

She sat down and managed to speak up as she took a sip of the water that was already sitting at the table. "He asked me at our hotel the night before Christmas Eve".

"And? Come on we want details here". Garcia stated.

Natalie felt her cheeks flush a little as she heard this. She stared at the two other women at the table seeing that they were just as interested as Garcia.

She took another sip of her water as she spoke up again. "He got us a honeymoon suite. When we came back from visiting his mom he talked me into taking a bath. He ordered us some room service and right before I was about to eat my dessert he got down on his knees and asked me. He said some really amazing sweet things while he was asking and I said yes".

The women at the table raised their eyebrows and grinned obviously knowing that she was leaving out some of the finer details from the night.

She wouldn't dare tell them everything he'd said though or anything slightly romantic that he'd done for her during their trip.

She knew he would completely freak out if he knew that she'd told them about how he'd taken several baths with her and practically refused that they get out of bed, while they were in the hotel.

He would especially freak out if he knew that anyone he worked with knew about the ruby baby doll and the fact that he'd developed a fondness of her wearing lingerie.

They each ordered their drinks and their food before JJ spoke up. "So when and where are you getting married? I mean are you doing it in Vegas or here"?

"I don't know. We haven't really talked about it in detail". Natalie said as she took her coat off.

"Well when do you want to get married"? Emily stated as she took a sip of her drink.

Natalie shook her head as she reached up and ran her finger tips along the closed locket around her neck.

She hadn't taken it off except for when she'd taken showers, since Christmas Eve when Spencer had given it to her.

She shrugged speaking up "I have no idea. I want it to be sometime soon, but I don't want it to be too ridiculously soon. I already know that my grandmother is going to make us have a real wedding in a church, a reception, and all of that. So I guess eloping in Vegas is out of the question. We might do it around the end of April or at the beginning of May".

She paused feeling her cheeks darken a little as she spoke up again feeling a little anxious about asking this. "I was wondering if I could convince you to be my bridesmaids ? I was also wondering if uh Penelope would you like to be my maid of honor"?

"Seriously I mean don't you have some cousins or someone else that would want to do that"? Penelope Garcia squealed making a few people at the other tables stare at her.

Natalie shook her head as she stared down at the crisp white table cloth. "No I'm not really that close to any of my cousins and Spencer really doesn't have any family. So it would mean a lot to Spence and me if you would do this for us".

"We'd love too". Garcia stated speaking up for the others who were both nodding their heads agreeing.

Natalie let out a sigh of relief grateful to hear that.

* * *

Natalie let out a tired sigh as she entered Spencer and her empty home. She took off her coat and sat her few shopping bags down on the sofa.

She walked over to the answering machine frowning at the red flashing one. She hit the play button fully expecting to be a message from Spencer. Or even a message from her father attempting to convince them that he was completely sure that he wanted to pay for the wedding.

She walked into the kitchen getting ready to pour herself a glass of water but stopped dead in her tracks as she heard a familiar voice.

"Hello Natalie it's me......your mother. I guess your not home. I got your phone number from your brother........ I'll be in town next month and I want to see you. Call me okay".

Natalie felt her stomach plummet as she walked over to the answering machine and stared down at it almost wanting to throw it far away into the nearest corner. She swallowed the lump in her throat as she reached down and pushed the erase button.

She let out a sigh of relief as she heard the mechanical voice state: Message erased.

She almost jumped out of her skin as she heard Spencer speak up from behind her. "Who was the message from".

She turned around seeing him. He had just walked through the front door and he hadn't even taken his coat off or dumped his messengers bag in the broom closet like he usually did. So he couldn't of heard the message.

"No one. I mean it was the wrong number". She stated feeling sick over the fact that she'd just lied to him.

She already knew how he'd react if he knew that her mother had called though. He would panic and then he would get angry that she'd tried to call after everything her mother had done to her.

She knew he was protective when it came to her mother.

So it was really better this way. It was easier just telling him that it was no one. It would stop him from having to worry and dread over it.

Spencer frowned seeing the sick look on her face. He shook his head deciding to ignore the look on her face. If she said it was no one then it was no one "So did you have a good lunch with the girls"?

"Yeah it was good. They questioned me about the wedding plans and then we went shopping. I asked them to be my bridesmaids". She stated glad that he wasn't pressing her about the message.

"That's good. I haven't thought about who I want to be my best man or anything like that. I'm thinking I may ask Morgan. I mean I know he's going to tease me more about this whole thing once I ask him, but I can't think of anyone else I'd rather have do it". He stated as he put his things away in the broom closet.

Natalie bit her bottom lip remembering the shopping bags and the light green lace baby doll that she'd managed to purchase while none of the girls were looking.

She managed to walk over to him and hug him gently burying her head against his chest taking in his scent. She couldn't help but to completly enjoy the way his grip tightened on her.

She looked up at him as she spoke up. "Do you want to see what I bought?........I have a feeling you'll be quite pleased with it".

"What makes you think that"? He stated lowering his voice a little as he felt his cheeks flush having a good idea of what she'd bought.

She smirked going over to the bags and picking them up as she started to make her way upstairs to the bedroom. She spoke up looking back at him. "Come on and I'll show you. I promise you won't be disappointed".

He practically tripped over himself as he followed her completely forgetting about the erased message.


	22. Flowers and a Massage

**Disclaimer remains the same. **

**Please do review.**

Chapter Twenty Two: Flowers and a Massage

Spencer couldn't help but to let out a small yawn as he walked though his front door. He wasn't surprised to find the living room completely abandoned considering it was about one am.

The only evidence that Natalie had even been downstairs were a few clean dishes still sitting in the dishwasher and a lamp that she had probably left turned on for him beside the sofa.

He managed to rid himself of his coat, his favorite purple scarf, and his messengers bag and practically dump them in the hallway closet before he made his way upstairs to their bedroom.

He was more than a little bit surprised when he entered their bedroom and saw that she was wide awake wearing only a pair of navy blue boy shorts and his gray Yale T-shirt that had always been way too ridiculously large for him.

He couldn't help but to smile a little at this sight. He was completely convinced that she looked amazing at times like this.

Times when she wasn't even wearing a spot of makeup and her nails and toenails were freshly painted with a very cheeful red nail polish. She had her medium length hair pulled back with a clip making every feature of her face, that he'd fallen in love with so long ago, completely noticeable..

She looked up from the magazine that she'd been flipping though, as she heard the bedroom door close behind him. She managed to let out a small smile as she patted his side of the bed and spoke up. "Come on you look tired sweetheart".

He nodded his head as he managed to change into his blue fleece pajama bottoms and top which happened to be the most comfortable pair of pajamas that he owned.

He climbed into his side of the bed as he spoke up. "Why are you still up? It's getting late".

She shrugged as she spoke up as if it was completely obvious what she was doing up. "I was waiting for you baby. I missed you".

He nodded his head blushing a little at one of her more intimate pet names for him.

He raised his eyebrows a little as he noticed what she'd been looking at.

"I thought you weren't that into bridal magazines". He stated motioning his hand towards the thick bridal magazine in her lap.

"I'm not. The girls bought it for me a few days ago when I went to lunch with them. So I thought it wouldn't hurt to look at it". She stated as she put the closed magazine on the bedside table.

He wasn't surprised when she motioned for him to turn around and put his back to her. He let out a relaxed sigh as she reached up and began to run her hands up and down his back and along his shoulders.

He let out another sigh as he felt almost all the tension leave his body. He smiled softly as she continued to massage his back.

She spoke up glad that she could do something to relax him so much. "So hows everything been going"?

He frowned knowing exactly what she meant. Gideon.

Gideon was gone. He'd left without a word to anyone.

The only thing he'd left was a letter addressed to Spencer that Spencer had found at Gideon's cabin. He'd found the letter when he'd gone to the cabin check on him. He'd been worried. Gideon hadn't been returning his calls and he hadn't shown up for a case.

At first Spencer was angry. After all Gideon had been like a father to him, and he'd left him with a letter. Just like Spencer's own father had done when he was just ten years old.

He just couldn't understand why Gideon had to leave like this. Why couldn't he just have retired like every other person in the world.

He could have told Spencer goodbye in person. He could have told everyone goodbye himself. Instead of just writing a letter to Spencer.

To tell the truth he was still a little bitter about this all. Especially since he'd done this when Spencer needed him the most.

He was getting married and he'd wanted his mentor to be there to see it all.

He wasn't sure how long he'd be this upset over it, but he hoped that one day he'd understand. Maybe one day he'd know why he'd left like this.

"Every thing's okay". He stated not sure what else he could say.

He spoke up again changing the subject after a few minutes of silence. "So did you find anything interesting in that magazine"?

She shrugged a little as she spoke up. "Not really. I mean I did get some ideas for flowers. How do you feel about blue"?

"What do you mean by blue"? He stated not helping but to let out yet another sigh as she rubbed his shoulders a little bit harder knowing that he always seemed to get really tense around his shoulder blades after dealing with a lot of stress at work.

"Some really pretty light blue flowers. See I was thinking about getting some kind of blue and white bouquets for the bridesmaids and then getting all white flowers with some blue ribbon tied around the stems for my bouquet". She stated not very surprised that he was so curious about the wedding plans.

She knew that most men usually let the bride handle all the wedding details, but she had made it a point to remind Spencer that he needed to give her input. After all it was his wedding as much as it was hers.

He smirked a little as he heard this. "You've put a lot of thought into this haven't you"?

She nodded her head as she leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to the side of his neck. "Yeah. I'd hate to break it to you Spence, but most little girls start to plan their weddings as soon as they understand the concept of a wedding".

He let out a soft chuckle as she said this. "So I take it that you've been planning this for a while"?

"Yeah since I went to my aunts wedding when I was about eight". She stated trying to keep a completely serious voice.

She finally quit massaging his back as he turned around facing her. He pressed a deep kiss to her lips as he spoke up. "Okay enough wedding talk for today. Lets get some sleep".

She nodded her head knowing that nothing sounded better right now.

* * *

Spencer made his way to his desk the next morning still thinking about the conversation they'd had the night before.

He was so deep in his own thoughts that he almost jumped out of his skin as he heard Morgan speak up. "So Reid how are plans with the future Mrs. Reid going"?

He looked up blushing a little as he spoke up. "Pretty good. Hey did you know that girls start planning their weddings the minute they figure out what a wedding is".

Morgan smirked a little as he heard this. He gave Spencer a pat on the back as he spoke up. "Yeah and that's the exact reason why I'm never getting married".

Emily smirked as she heard this. She spoke up joking. "Morgan you better never let Garcia hear that".

Morgan frowned a little shaking his head. "Hey my baby girl knows I am never tying the knot".

He paused looking at Spencer. "Kid you are a braver man than me. I would never once in a million years want to spend the rest of my life with one person".

Spencer raised his eyebrows still not fully getting Morgan's apparent discomfort towards marriage.

To tell the truth the idea of marrying Natalie was kind of comforting to Spencer. After all he'd have someone to grow old with and probably start a family with, even though the idea of kids sill scared him a little. Natalie and him would always be there for eachother though good times and bad times.

He shook his head a little as he spoke up remembering that he hadn't discussed his idea for the best man with Morgan yet. "Hey Morgan can I ask you for a favor"?

"Yeah sure kid". Morgan stated not looking up from his coffee cup.

Spencer swallowed the lump in his throat as he spoke up. "Would you uh...do you think you would mind being my best man.. I mean I don't have any siblings or cousins or anyone else that I could ask".

Morgan raised his eyebrows a little surprised that Spencer was asking him. After all he'd almost expected Spencer to ask his friend Ethan or someone that he'd gone to college with.

He spoke up nodding his head. "Yeah kid no problem. I'd be honored to be your best man".

Spencer nodded letting out a sigh of relief feeling more than thankful that he'd gotten that question over with.

He just hoped that the rest of Natalie and his wedding plans would go over just as smoothly.


	23. A Nightmare and Another Message

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**Please review**

Chapter Twenty Three: A Nightmare and Another Message

Spencer sat back on the sofa and stared blankly at the tv. He had been flipping though the channels for a while now and he'd finally come across a documentary on the science channel which looked pretty decent.

He frowned a little turning his eyes away from the television when he felt Natalie accidentally nudge his knee with her foot.

He glanced over at her to see her staring down at her laptop with a frustrated look on her face. He reached down and ran his hand along one of her legs which were currently resting in his lap.

She looked up at him giving him a soft smile before she stared back down at her laptop frowning a little as she looked at the screen.

"Okay what am I doing wrong? I keep on trying to add up everything on the payroll and it doesn't look right". She stated as she let out a frustrated sigh and passed the laptop over to him.

He stared down at the screen for only a few seconds before speaking up. "You forgot to add in the raise to this person's check".

She nodded her head taking the laptop back from him before doing as he said. She smiled softly when everything finally turned out normally.

Spencer reached over and attempted to take the laptop out of her lap as he spoke up. "Okay that's enough work for now.

"Just a second let me email this to Megan" She stated attempting to keep the laptop in her lap.

She managed to email the payroll to Megan whom she'd hired to manage everything down at the antique store.

A big part of her wished that she wasn't so afraid of actually going in to the antique store instead of attempting to manage everything from home.

She just didn't have the heart to move into a new building though. It had been left to her and it felt wrong to move it.

She finally managed to shut her laptop off before moving it over to the coffee table. She spoke up as she looked at Spencer. "There happy"?

"Yes very". He stated as he ran his hand along her leg once again.

She relaxed against the sofa as she heard him speak up again. "I was thinking that maybe we should get a dog"?

"A dog"? She questioned as she sat up a bit.

"You know if you repeat everything I say then this conversation is going to take twice as long". He stated teasing her a little as he continued to run his hand along her leg.

"I thought you hated pets". She said as she moved her legs off his lap and sat up crossing crossing her legs as she sat down facing him.

"I do not hate pets. What gave you that idea"? He questioned as he turned to face her.

She smirked a little as she reached out and pressed a hand to his cheek. "I just assumed you did. I mean you were never totally comfortable around Cookie when she was still alive. Not to mention Morgan told me about the Reid effect a long time ago".

He felt his cheeks flush a little as he heard this.

He silently reminded himself to murder Morgan before he spoke up. "I don't hate pets. They usually don't get along with me no matter what I do. I've just never really had a pet. I mean I went through a lot of goldfish when I was little, but I was never allowed to have a dog or a cat or anything like that".

She smiled a little as she leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "So I'm guessing thats why you think we should get a dog".

"Yeah and I know that you miss Cookie. So I thought it would be nice. I mean to have something to keep you company when I'm not here".

She pressed another kiss to his cheek as she spoke up. "Okay then we'll get a dog. One that wont set off the Reid effect".

He kissed her lips before he glanced up at the clock over the t.v. "Come on lets go get some sleep".

She got up from the sofa and quickly made her way towards the bedroom knowing that nothing sounded better right now.

* * *

Natalie woke up to the sound of whimpering. She looked at the alarm clock on Spencer's side of the bed seeing that it wasn't even two am yet.

She turned on the lamp beside her side of the bed before turning around and seeing Spencer. She frowned seeing that he was fast asleep though he did seem to be having a dream.

A dream that she could tell wasn't very pleasant. He was whimpering a little and he had a look of worry and fear sketched across his face.

She reached up placing her hand on his cheek before whispering his name in his ear hoping that she could wake him up.

It didn't take long for his eyes open. He let out a frustrated sigh as he reached up and rubbed his tired eyes.

"Do you want to talk about it"? She questioned as she ran her hand along his cheek.

He shook his head as he spoke up still half asleep. "No it's fine really".

She nodded her head knowing not to press him about it. He had nightmares almost every single night. Some of them were worst than others and he usually didn't enjoy talking about them to anyone. Not even her.

She took her hand off his cheek before pressing a soft kiss to his lips. "Try to get some sleep okay".

He nodded his head as she rested her head against his chest. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head as he spoke up barely above a whisper. "I'll try".

It didn't take long for her to fall back asleep. Spencer however was having a hard time falling back asleep.

He reached down and ran his hand along her back as he attempted to fall asleep. He almost fell completely asleep before he heard the distinct sound of the phone ringing.

He frowned knowing that it wasn't a case. He was always called on his cell phone if it was a case.

He managed to get up without waking Natalie before he made his way downstairs knowing that he didn't want to wake Natalie by answering the phone.

He was too late by the time he'd made it to the phone. He reached down pushing the button right below the flashing one as he realized that whomever had called had left a message.

He felt his heart begin to beat faster as he heard the message. "Natalie It's your mother. I don't know if you got my message the other day. I guess that you weren't home, but I really want to see you. Please call me okay".

He felt his blood turn a little cold as he heard the message end. Her mother was calling here. After everything she'd done to Natalie she was calling them.

She had called before and Natalie hadn't told him. Why hadn't she told him?

He almost jumped out of his skin as he heard a familiar voice behind him. "Spence I thought you were going to get some sleep".

He turned around seeing her standing at the door way wide awake wearing her silk robe over one of his T shirts that she'd long ago claimed as a pair of her pajamas.

He swallowed the lump in his throat knowing that he had to confront her about this. He had to know why she hadn't told him about the calls.


	24. Confusion and Making Up

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Chapter Twenty Four: Confusion and Making Up

Natalie felt her stomach churn as soon as she heard those words leave Spencer's mouth. She made her way over to the sofa sitting down and crossing her arms and pulling her robe on a little tighter.

She had completely and totally screwed up. She looked up at him trying to read the look on his face as she felt the dread began to set in.

She knew that she should have told him. She shouldn't have kept this a secret when she knew that it could blow up in her face.

She swallowed the lump in her throat as she spoke up barely above a whisper. "Are you mad at me"?

He let out a frustrated sigh as he spoke up. "No I'm not mad at you. I'm just confused. Why didn't you tell me that your mother called"?

"I thought that it would upset you. I know how you feel about her". She stated with complete honesty.

He made his way over to the sofa and sat down beside her as he spoke up. "And you didn't think it would upset me if you lied about it"?

"I know it was wrong. I mean I know I should have told you, but I know how you feel about my mother. I just thought that It would stop you from having to worry about it. You always worry so much".

He reached out and placed one of his hands on her shoulder as he let out a tired sigh. "I'm supposed to worry about you though. I love you".

She uncrossed her arms feeling a little bit more at ease now that she knew that he wasn't angry with her.

She had always had the bad habit of being overly sensitive when it came to conflict.

"I love you too". She stated placing a hand over his.

"Are you going to go see your mother"? He said beginning to feel anxious about the thought of her seeing her mother.

She shook her head letting out a frustrated sigh as she spoke up. "I don't know. Part of me feels like I should just avoid her and the other part of me feels like I should confront her for everything she's done. What do you think I should do"?

"Well you already know how I feel about her. I know I can't really tell you what you should do though. At the end of the day it's really your choice". He stated with complete honesty before he pressed a soft kiss to her cheek.

To tell the truth if it was up to him he'd have her mother disappear of the face of the planet never to be heard from again.

Yes he knew that was harsh, but after everything she'd done to Natalie she deserved it. He didn't believe it was possible for her mother to change.

Natalie's mother had only gotten really violent with her when she was drunk, but when she was sober she still wasn't all that great of a mother.

She put Natalie down all the time, she made snide remarks about her all the time. Telling her she wasn't good enough. She was always telling her she wished she'd only wanted one child and that she'd only had her to make her failed marriage with Natalie's father last a little longer.

He could never forget all the nights that Natalie had slept over to his house when she was supposed to be spending the nights with her mother.

All the times that Natalie had told him that she was scared of her mother. All the times she had begged him not to tell her father about it when he knew that he really should tell someone.

Natalie had known that it would break her father's heart if he knew about the way her mother treated her. After all she was his only little girl and he was over protective when it came to her.

It would crush him if he knew that he hadn't been able to protect her from her own mother.

Spencer could remember that when they were children he used to promise himself that one day when he was big enough and old enough he would protect her and make sure that nothing ever hurt her again.

Yes he knew that he couldn't protect her from everything. It was impossible to stop her from ever getting hurt, but he'd always tried to do the best he could to protect her.

She managed to wrap her arms around him and press her head against his chest taking in his familiar scent.

It was difficult to describe exactly how he smelled, but she'd connected his smell with security and comfort a long time ago. She knew that some people might think it was a little odd but she always felt her safest when she was against him.

"I don't know Spence. I guess I'm just going to have to think about it". She mumbled as she let out a tired yawn.

She pulled back from him as he leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. He broke the kiss before speaking up. "I'll support you no matter what you decide to do".

She felt a small smile spread across her face as she spoke up. "Your way too sweet to me Spence. I don't deserve you to be so nice after I lied to you about my mom".

He pressed another kiss to her lips as he spoke up. "It's okay. I understand why you did it. You were just trying to protect me".

"Yeah but it was a horrible way of protecting you. Your my fiancée I should have told you the truth". She stated shaking her head.

"It's okay honey. It really is". He stated knowing that she was beating herself up over this.

.He spoke up again after a few minutes of silence. "Lets go back to bed. You look tired".

She smiled softly as she heard this. She pressed a soft kiss to the spot on his neck that she knew made most of his self control fly out the window. "That sounds like a pretty good idea to me, but first I want to do something to make it up to you".

He felt his cheeks flush a little as he heard this. He had a feeling that she defiantly would make it up to him.


	25. Bad Genes and Crunching Metal

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Chapter Twenty Five: Bad Genes and Crunching Metal

Natalie let out a tired sigh as she pulled her car into the parking lot. She put the car into park before she peered up through the front window reading the bright pink and blue neon sign in front of her.

She sighed as she saw that this was in fact Mel's Diner. She still didn't understand why all diner's seemed to have such cheesy names.

She managed to pull down her sun visor before staring at herself once again in the mirror. She ran her fingertips under her eyelids making sure her black eyeliner wasn't smudged to terribly bad.

She had been so nervous this morning that she'd had to make three seprate attempts to apply her makeup. She still couldn't help but to think that she looked almost like a little girl that had been playing in her mother's makeup.

She frowned a little feeling a slight headache beginning to work it's way in. She always got terrible headaches when she was under a lot of stress.

It didn't help that she'd vomited this morning. She'd blamed that on the stress too.

Today was a good as day as any to be extremely stressed out.

She was meeting up with her mother today. Which was something that she'd much rather not be doing. She knew that it had to be done though. Confronting her mother was the only that she felt she'd be able to really move on with her life.

Part of her wished now that she'd let Spencer come along with her. He'd wanted to come with her and he'd spent almost an entire hour last night trying to convince her to let him come along.

She'd talked him out of it though. She knew that she needed to do this alone. No matter how much it frightened her she need to face her mother by herself.

Besides Spencer needed to go to work. He needed to save up all of his off time for their honeymoon.

It didn't take her long to spot her mother once she entered the diner.

Her once attractive mother now looked older than she actually was thanks to years of drinking and hard living. Her hair had been dyed an unnatural shade of brown for her age and one could tell that it was beginning to fade at the roots.

Her mother was wearing a professional looking red pants suit along with way too much jewelry, and thick rimmed sunglasses rested on the top of her head..

Natalie managed to swallow the lump in her throat as she made her way over to the booth that her mother was currently seated at..

She sat down silently wishing that they were sitting at a table instead. At least if they were at a table she could scoot back far away from her mother.

The two sat in silence for a moment before her mother finally spoke up. "I'm glad you came. Do you want something to drink or maybe some pie? They have coconut it's your favorite right"?

Natalie frowned a little hearing this. She hated coconut. She'd always hated coconut. "No thanks I'm fine".

"Are you sure? Your looking way too thin....then again you were always too thin. You really should eat something. It's no problem I'll pay". Her mother stated shaking her head a little.

Natalie ignored the statement as she spoke up. "I wasn't going to come".

"I heard your engaged"? Her mother questioned as she glanced down at her daughter's engagement ring.

"Yes to Spencer". Natalie stated crossing her arms once again wishing that she'd let Spencer come along with her.

Her mother frowned looking very unpleased to have heard this. "Oh him".

"What's that supposed to mean"? Natalie said as she bit down on her bottom lip trying hard not to get too defensive.

She just needed to keep her cool. The calmer she remained the sooner she'd get out of here.

"Well it's just......why him"? Her mother questioned as she took a sip of her tea.

"I love him". She stated without any hesitation at all.

Her mother shook her head as she spoke up again. "Well that's all good and well, but what if you have children"?

"What do you mean by that"? Natalie stated as she uncrossed her arms and stuck her hands in her lap. She could already feel herself subconsciously beginning to clench her fists.

Her mother shrugged as she sat her tea cup down. "Well you already know what that boy's family is like. I mean you remember his mother. What if he passes on his bad genes to your children. You don't want to be stuck in a marriage with him just because you have children do you? God knows that's the only reason I stayed with your father for so long"

Natalie clinched her fists even harder as she heard this. She spoke up feeling her voice crack a little. "I don't care what his genes are like. It doesn't stop me from wanting to have a family with him. If something was wrong with one of our children then we'd handle it just like any other couple would. And don't bring your failed marriage with my father into this".

Her mother raised her eyebrows a bit surprised to hear her daughter standing up for herself. Especially considering Natalie had never stood up for herself before.

She spoke up beginning to get a little angry. "Don't you talk to me like that especially when I'm just trying to help you. At least I care about you enough to try to stop you from making the biggest mistake of your life with that Spencer boy".

"Well I don't need your help. I'm not making a mistake and rather you like it or not Spencer and I are getting married. In fact I don't want you anywhere near Spencer and me. I don't even want to hear from you ever again. I want you to disappear and stay out of our lives". Natalie stated as she managed to stand up.

She made her way out of the diner ignoring her mother's voice asking her to come back and talk to her about this.

She got into her car slamming the door behind her and tossing her purse over into the passengers seat.

She debated over calling Spencer, but decided that it would be best if she didn't.

She knew it would hurt him to hear what her mother had said about him. Especially considering he was insecure about the possibility of passing on a mental illness to their children, and developing one himself later on.

She was glad now that he hadn't come with her considering she had no idea how he would have handled hearing any of that.

She let out a sigh as she reached down and turned on her radio attempting to calm herself down.

She took in a deep breath letting it out as she pulled out of her parking spot. She frowned reaching down and attempting to change the station on her radio as she puled out of the parking lot.

She looked up from her radio widening her eyes as she realized that a car was pulling into her lane and coming right towards her.

She made a quick attempt to swerve out of the way, but it was too late.

She jolted forward hitting her head on her steering wheel as the car rammed into the right front side of her car. The metal crunched on the passengers side and the window broke out.

She frowned feeling a little dizzy as she attempted to lift her head up. She automatically felt an intense pain in her left arm and she quickly realized that she could barely move it.

She began to panic as she felt something wet in between her legs. She silently prayed to god that she'd just wet herself.

As embarrassing as that would be it would still be better than what she feared it might be.

She looked down beginning to feel her worst fears being answered as she saw it. Blood. The front of her white skirt was stained with her own blood.

This was the last thing she saw before she began to feel light headed. She passed out leaning agianst her steering wheel as she heard the distant sound of sirens approaching her car.


	26. It'll Be Okay

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Chapter Twenty Six: It'll Be Okay

Spencer let out a sigh as he closed the thick book that he'd been reading. He made a quick mental note that he'd finish the last few paragraphs tonight before he turned his lights out to go to sleep.

Not that there was anything stopping him from finishing the book right now. After all he had finished his paperwork early as usual and then there was the little fact that he could read a little bit faster than the average person.

20,000 word per minute to be exact. Though he usually tried to pace himself when it came to reading for leisure instead of work.

He felt his cheeks darken a bit when he heard Morgan speak up. "So Reid what exactly do you have in mind for your last night of freedom"?

Spencer raised his eyebrows feel a little clueless as to what Morgan meant by that.

He managed to roll his eyes as he realized exactly what Morgan meant, his bachelor party. He silently prayed that Morgan wasn't going to drag him someplace too embarrassing.

To tell the truth the wildest thing he may plan on doing would be going out for a drink with Natalie's father and brother. No it wasn't exactly the wildest thing. In fact it wasn't wild at all, but it was what he felt comfortable doing.

"I don't know. I was probably just going to go out for a couple of drinks with Natalie's dad and brother. Hotch and you are welcome to join us of course". He stated with complete honesty.

Morgan frowned a little as he looked at Spencer like he'd just announced that he was planning on growing another head.

He cleared his throat speaking up. "Uh Reid that's not exactly what I'd consider being a good time. I mean hanging out with the in laws is a little tame, but if it's what you want then okay".

Spencer let out a sigh of relief grateful to hear that Morgan wasn't going to give him a hard time about this.

He reached out across his crowded desk to answer his phone as it began to ring. He frowned as he heard an unfamiliar voice speak up as he put the phone up to his ear. "Am I speaking with Dr. Spencer Reid"?

"Yes you are whom am I speaking with"? He stated automatically getting a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"This is Mariam at the Saint Josephs Hospital. I'm afraid I have some bad news. It appears that your fiancée was in an car accident this morning and she was brought in to the emergency center. Your listed as her emergency contact".

He felt a wave of nausea and panic wash over him as he spoke up. "Is she okay"?

"I'm afraid I can't give that information over the phone. You should probably come here to speak with her doctor". She stated in a calm manner.

"Okay I'll be there". He said before hanging up his phone with shaking hands.

He wasn't surprised to get worried glances from both Morgan and Emily. He opened his mouth speaking up causing his voice to crack a little. "I need to go to the hospital. It's Natalie".

* * *

Spencer stared up from the pale tan tiles below him as a bright pair of red heels invaded his view. He looked up only to have a hot cup of coffee practically shoved at him from Garcia.

She spoke up attempting to give him a comforting smile. "Here sweet face a little caffeine should help".

He took it from her mumbling a thank you even though he wasn't sure he could stomach the coffee right now.

He'd felt overwhelmingly nauseated since he had left the BAU. He had almost been unwilling to get into Garcia's car when she'd offered to drive him. She had insisted that he was in no shape to drive himself.

Being in a car made him anxious, so he was thankful that Garcia had drove a bit calmer than usual.

Garcia, Morgan, and Emily had volunteered to come to the hospital with him and the others promised that they would be here as soon as possible.

He stared down at his watch scowling a bit as he wondered what was taking so damned long. Never mind the fact that it had only been ten minutes since he'd gotten here.

He hadn't spoken with a doctor yet and the nurses up at the front desk had told him that it wouldn't be too long of a wait.

It felt like he'd been sitting here forever though. A big part of him was berating himself for letting her go alone.

Even though he knew that nothing he could have done could have stopped this from happening. It still didn't stop him from wondering what if though.

The only thing he'd found out so far was that a 30 something year old drunk driver had swerved and hit Natalie's car.

The police had taken him in at the scene and thankfully charges would be made.

Though he knew the law. The drunk driver may serve some jail time or he would end up doing community service and paying a big fine.

To tell the truth he hoped that they gave him jail time. Lots of jail time.

He had already called Natalie's father and any other of her relatives that he'd thought of and told them the situation.

Her father, brother and grandmother were planning on catching the first flight they could to DC. He was thankful for that since he knew Natalie would need her family with her.

He almost shot out of his seat as an heavyset elder man in sea green scrubs made his way towards him.

The man spoke up reaching out to shake his hand. "I'm Dr. Royce and your Dr. Reid I assume"?

"Yes is she okay"? He blurted out as he shook his hand.

Dr. Royce led him away from Morgan, Garcia, and Emily before speaking up.

"She has a mild concussion so were going to want to keep her over night to keep an eye on her. She's a bit bruised up and swollen. She has stitches in her left arm and she's going to need to make sure to change the bandages to avoid infection......I'm afraid I have some bad news you may want to sit down for this".

Spencer did as he said feeling as though his legs would give out if he didn't. He looked up fearing the worst as Dr. Royce spoke up again. "There's really no easy way to say this, but your fiancée lost the baby she was carrying".

Spencer barely registered the hand that Dr. Royce had placed on his shoulder as he stated this. He felt as though he could faint at any given moment. "She was pregnant"?

"She wasn't that far along and she probably wouldn't have started showing symptoms for a week or so".

He nodded his head running through dates in his mind trying to figure out when they'd conceived. It quickly hit him that it had happened when he'd come home from that serial arson case in Oregon.

They had gone though their new tradition of taking a bath together before they'd made it to bed and made love trying to seek comfort in each other. She had been on the pill but she'd probably missed a dose here and there and the pill was only 96 though 99% effective.

"Can she get pregnant again"? He questioned feeling his voice crack a little as it hit him that he really did want a family with her.

Sure they'd joked about it from time to time, but he'd always been afraid before this moment. Now that it had come so close to happening he'd realized just how badly he wanted it.

It wasn't just because she wanted a family it was because he needed one too. He needed something separate from work something that could soothe him. A family that he could protect and prove that he could be better to his family than his father ever was.

He looked up as Dr. Royce spoke up answering his question. "She should be able to get pregnant and have a healthy normal pregnancy considering this was her first miscarriage. You can start trying again as soon as she's physically ready".

"I need to see her right now. I'll stay with her tonight". Spencer stated not caring if he was being demanding. All he could think about was seeing her and talking to her.

"Of course I'll have a nurse take you too her and bring a cot in for you for the night". Dr. Royce stated giving Spencer's shoulder a comforting squeeze.

He stood up looking back at his three coworkers whom all gave him nods and promises that they would come by later.

He followed a nurse to the elevator, up a few floors down a few halls until they reached a closed door with a simple sign that read room 236.

She opened the door allowing him to enter the dim room before she left promising to make sure that a cot came.

He entered the room feeling his heart sink a little as he saw her laying in bed under the dim overhead light. She was a little bruised up and she was hooked up to an IV along with a heart monitor. Her hair was a tangled mess, she was way paler than usual, and she had heavy dark circles under her eyes.

She spoke up as though she knew exactly what he was thinking. "It doesn't' hurt that bad. Their going to give me some pain medicine soon...... I guess the doctor told you huh"?

He nodded his head as he made his way over to the bed managing to take her hand in his. She spoke up letting a few tears leak out her eyes. "It's not fair".

He reached out with his free hand attempting to wipe her eyes. "I know. The doctor said we can try again though as soon as your ready".

She frowned bitting her bottom lip. "It's still not fair. I wanted us to be a family and it was ripped away from us. If id' known this was going to happen I would have never left the house. It hurt so bad Spence I was bleeding and cramping and I was scared".

He embraced her in a gentle hug afraid that he would hurt her if he squeezed her as tight as he wanted too. He kissed the top of her head and he tried to run his hand through her hair and work some of the tangles out.

"I can't imagine how much it hurt darling and I'm so sorry you had to go though that. I know I wanted to be a family too. We had no way of knowing that this was going to happen though. We'll try again though I promise".

She looked up at him barely speaking up in quiet voice. "Will it be okay? I mean If I get pregnant again it'll be healthy"?

"Yes it will. The doctor said you could have a healthy pregnancy. We'll try again as soon as your ready. All you have to do is say the word and we'll start trying".

She nodded her head holding on to him a little bit tighter. "Does my dad know"?

"Yes I called him. Their flying in as soon as possible. I'm going to stay here tonight and I'm going to stay at home with you as long as you need me"?

"Do You promise you wont have to leave"? She stated as she buried her head against his chest.

"I'd never leave. I swear. I love you so much and I promise were going to make it though this". He said as he pressed another kiss to the top of her head.

She nodded her head knowing that he was telling the truth. They would make it though this one way or another.


	27. What Ifs and Stresses

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Chapter Twenty Seven: What Ifs and Stresses

Natalie managed to sit down on her bed trying hard to ignore the fact that her body still ached despite the fact that she'd been given painkillers before she'd left the hospital.

She tried hard to focus on the fact that she was finally out of that hospital and at home in the safety and comfort of their room.

She reached out and took the white knee length cotton nightgown that Spencer had managed to find in the bottom drawer of one of their dressers.

She stood up and let him help her change out of her jeans and t shirt and into her nightgown.

She tried to ignore the fact that he was letting his eyes scan up and down her body as though he was trying to memorize every single little bruise and scrape.

He pressed a soft kiss to her lips after he lowered the nightgown over her head. She smiled softly speaking up. "You know I could have probably managed to dress myself".

"I know but the doctor said your supposed to relax until the bruising goes away. Now come on lets get you into bed. The doctor said you need to rest". He stated as he took one of her hands and attempted to help her into bed.

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes as he did this. It wasn't like she really needed that much help, but then again she knew he was just trying to take care of her.

She spoke up as she scooted back into her side of the bed. "I'll only stay in bed if you lay with me".

He nodded his head managing to get his shoes and most of clothes off leaving him in only his navy boxers and white undershirt before he climbed into bed beside her.

She scooted over closer to him wrapping her arms around him as she attempted to get comfortable. She knew that it was way to early to sleep considering it was only three in the after noon and it wasn't like she was that tired anyway.

"Are you sure you don't need to get back to work"? She questioned as she looked up at him.

He shook his head before pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Yeah I'm sure. I took the week off".

She sighed a little feeling bad that he was probably getting behind at work. He had already taken off too much time for her and her problems as it was.

He spoke up again almost as though he could read her mind. "Don't worry. I'm not going to get behind or anything like that. I already have some paperwork in my bag that I can go over at home and turn in when I get back to work".

She spoke up changing the subject. "Are we picking up my family from the airport tomorrow"?

He nodded his head "Yeah we'll pick them up and help them get settled in. I already made sure the guest room looked decent. And I made sure that we had plenty of clean sheets. Are you sure that we shouldn't give your brother and niece our bed? I mean we'll be fine on the sofa".

"No they wouldn't make us sleep on the sofa. Besides I think my brother is bringing an air mattress for them. We don't have to tell anyone about my mom do we"?

"I'm leaving that up to you. Whatever you want to do I'll go along with you". He stated without any hesitation at all.

He tried to ignore the little chill that ran down his spine when he remembered the phone call he'd received from mother earlier today.

Natalie hadn't wanted to talk to her and he'd been sure to tell her to stay far away from Natalie and him. Though he had a feeling that it probably wouldn't be the last they heard from her.

They laid there in a comfortable silence for a few moments before she spoke up again. "Spence what if I can't get pregnant again"?

He frowned slightly staring down at her. "Natalie honey the doctor said you shouldn't have any problems getting pregnant again".

She shook her head speaking up. "But what if he's wrong. What if theres something wrong with me and I can't get pregnant again. What if I can't have a normal pregnancy. What do we do if I just can't carry a baby full term"?

He sighed not even wanting to think about going though the pain of another miscarriage. Even if neither of them had been aware of the pregnancy it had still hurt to lose it.

He swallowed the lump in his throat as he attempted to run his hand up and down her back trying to comfort her and himself. "Well then there's adoption. I mean theres a lot of kids out there that need good loving parents right? Then theres also the option of using a surrogate mother. I'm sure we could find someone that we trust to do that for us".

"I don't like the idea of another women carrying our baby even if we do trust her. I want our own baby. I know that's really selfish but I want it to be ours". She stated feeling a little bit guilty to admit this out loud.

He sighed as he pressed a deep kiss to her lips. He pulled away running a hand though her hair as he spoke. "That's not selfish. You just want to be a mother and your going to be a really great mother. I'm going to do everything within my power to give us a baby I promise".

She shook her head a little "Spence you can't promise me something like that. We have no idea whats going to happen".

"I know, but were going to try. We can start trying on our honeymoon if that's what you want to do. Just try not to worry about it. Your just going to stress yourself out and stress can do things to your hormones which can make it harder for you to conceive. Actually stress can effect the functioning of the hypothalamus which is the gland in the brain that regulates your appetite and emotions as well as your "......

She placed a gentle hand over his mouth stopping him from his little mini lecture about hormones, conceiving , and stress. "Okay Spence sweetie I get it stress equals bad".

He smiled a little as she removed her hand from his mouth. "Sorry I get a little carried away sometimes".

She smirked knowing that a little carried away didn't even began to cover it. She spoke up getting back on topic. "It's okay. I get it though I'll try not to stress too much over this. Besides I need to save all my worries for planning this wedding".

He pressed a quick kiss to her lips as he spoke up. "Well your family is going to be here so that should help right. I mean since your dad is paying for this and everything. So he can see some of the plans in person. Your grandmother can help you with getting the dress and the bridesmaids dresses and all that stuff".

She sighed shaking her head. "Yeah, but we haven't even looked over the guest list yet, and I don't want to dump anything else on Garcia since she's already throwing me a bridal shower".

He nodded his head knowing that Garcia had been more than happy helping Natalie out. He knew that Garcia was thrilled about the whole bridal shower.

"Don't worry about it right now okay. We can go over it tomorrow before we go to the airport. Just get some rest". He stated pulling the comforter a bit higher up around them.

She nodded her head agreeing with him. She just needed to relax and focus on the fact that she was getting ready to marry the love of her life in just a month.

She only hoped that the rest of the planning would go over smoothly.


	28. More Planning and an Interruption

**Disclaimer still remains the same as always.**

**Do Review Please.**

Chapter Twenty Eight: More Planning and an Interruption.

Natalie couldn't help but to flinch and attempt to pull her arm away from Spencer as she felt a cool alcohol swab press against her arm.

She heard Spencer's apologetic voice as he lifted the swab attempting to dab it against her arm the way the nurses had shown him. "Sorry I know it hurts".

She felt her cheeks flush a little feeling bad that he was having to do this for her. It wasn't like she could really manage to do it though. Just the thought of it made her feel a little squeamish.

She wouldn't be able to have the taken stitches out out of her arm for a few more weeks. So he would have to do this for her until then. It wasn't like he really minded doing it.

She tried to suppress the shiver that was threatening to run though her body as she realized that he had probably seen worst things than her stitched up arm at work.

She felt him press a clean bandage to her arm taping it in place as he spoke up. "It's looking better. I mean it's not really that swollen anymore".

She nodded grateful to hear that. She was still had quite a few bruises though the body aches weren't as bad as they were a few days ago.

He stood up throwing away the old bandage and putting the first aid kit back into their closet before sitting back down on the bed.

They sat there in silence for a few moments before she spoke up."So have you thought about what kind of cake you want yet"?

"Wedding cake"? He questioned feeling a little dumb after he said it considering that was the only type of cake she would be asking him about.

"Yeah and the grooms cake. We have to go do cake tasting next weekend. I don't know if my grandmother and my dad are going with us though. I mean their paying for it so I guess they'll need to see it". She stated as she reached over and placed her hand over his resting it on his knee.

He frowned a little knowing that he really hadn't thought about it all that much. He cleared his throat as he spoke up. "Well I guess we could get chocolate for the grooms cake and vanilla for the wedding cake".

"Okay that sounds good, but what kind of filling are we going to have"? She stated looking down at her lap as she began to fill a familiar anxiety spread though out her stomach.

She still didn't understand why she felt so nervous. After all nothing would really change after this, well except for her last name of course.

She guessed it was normal to feel this nervous. It was probably just cold feet. She was pretty excited too so it probably wasn't anything to worry about.

She looked up connecting her eyes with his as she heard him speak up. "How about we just wait until we get there to decide. I mean that way we'll have a chance to try it out".

She nodded her head in agreement before letting out a sigh. "I have to go dress shopping with the girls and my grandma tomorrow. I really don't feel like it though".

"So why don't you just wait. Theres no rule that says you have to go then"..He stated looking over at her as she rested her head against his shoulder.

She sighed not moving head away from his shoulder. "I can't get out of it if I want to use this bridal shop. I made an appointment with them for the fittings a few weeks ago and I only got the appointment because someone else had canceled. If I cancel I wont be able to get in for like six months, and that wont work since the weddings at the beginning of next month".

She paused widening her eyes as she remembered something " Spence please tell me you remembered to make an appointment to get the suits ".

He smirked a little managing to speak up with his best serious voice possible. "What I'm supposed to make an appointment"?

She rolled her eyes as she looked up at his face to see that he was having a hard time keeping a straight face.

"Spencer that is so not funny". She stated trying hard not to smile along with him.

He kissed the top of her head smiling "Yes I made the appointments I'm going in next week. I have no idea what I'm getting though".

"Just get whatever your comfortable with Spence. I mean I'd probably marry you even if you were wearing your plaid fleece pajamas. Though that would probably look a little weird in the wedding photos". She stated teasing him a little.

He spoke up pretending to be be offended. "Hey I thought you liked my fleece pajamas".

She smiled a little as she leaned up and pressed a kiss to his lips. She pulled back after what seemed like forever. "Oh you know I love them. In fact I happen to find them very sexy".

He felt his cheeks darken a little as she said this. He leaned in fully ready to press another deep kiss to her lips, but he quickly pulled away as he heard a small voice from the doorway. "Uncle Spencer look".

They both turned their heads to see Natalie's niece standing in the doorway holding a piece of paper that looked as though she'd torn it out of a coloring book.

The little girl closed the bedroom door behind her before walking over to Spencer and practically climbing in his lap.

The little girl spoke up practically shoving the picture in his face. "See I made it for you".

"Wow for me". He stated feeling his cheeks darken a little.

He felt them darken even more as he realized that Natalie was watching him with a smile on her face.

Natalie couldn't help but to smile as she looked at Spencer and Sarah. Spencer may be convinced that he wasn't that great with kids, but he was wrong.

He had slowly gotten more comfortable with Sarah over the past few days, and the little girl seemed to think that he was just wonderful.

Natalie would never tell him this, but she had even seen him reading a Dr. Seuss book to her yesterday when he'd been left alone with her after everyone went to get some groceries.

They had quickly discovered that they would need more groceries with her family staying with them. Thankfully the house wasn't too crowded and her dad was insisting on getting a different place for them to stay until after the wedding.

She had tried to convince her dad that Spencer and her really didn't have a problem with them staying here, but her dad had finally convinced her that Spencer and her needed their space.

She couldn't help but to lean over and press a soft kiss to Spencer's cheek. He turned his head as she pulled away managing to press a kiss to her lips.

They both pulled away as they heard a male voice from the doorway. "Jeez Natalie do you think you could wait to suck face with your fiancée until my kids not in the room".

Spencer felt his cheeks darken as he wondered how long her brother had been watching them. Natalie spoke up rolling her eyes. "Robert don't you know how to knock"?

Her brother spoke up ignoring her question. "Dad's ready to go eat. You two better hurry up or he'll leave without you".

She rolled her eyes as her brother took his daughter from Spencer's lap. She spoke up as he started to leave the room. "Okay just give us a few seconds".

He nodded his head smirking. "Okay I'll be sure to tell dad to wait until you two get done playing tonsil hockey".

She glared at him as he shut the door behind him. She turned to look at Spencer not helping but to giggle at how dark his cheeks had gotten.

"Don't worry Spence he's joking". She stated as she kissed his cheek.

She smiled even more as she noticed that his cheeks were almost the color of a tomato now.

Thank god they would have the house to themselves soon.


	29. Dresses and An Idea

**Disclaimer remains the same.**

**Please to review.**

Chapter Twenty Nine: Dresses and An Idea

Natalie couldn't help but to feel her cheeks flush as she walked out to the dressing room. The first thing she heard were several ohs and awes from her grandmother, JJ, Emily, and Garcia.

She spoke up shaking her head as she turned and looked into the row of mirrors in front of her. "I wouldn't get too excited guys I really don't think that this is the one".

"What why not"? Emily questioned looking at Natalie as though she'd just announced that she was going to grow another head.

JJ spoke up before Natalie had a chance to answer. "Yeah why not ? That ones really pretty on you. I think it's the prettiest one you've tried on so far".

Natalie let out a sigh frowning as she answered them. "Don't get me wrong It is really beautiful and I do like it, but its just not the one".

She had tried on several dresses and she was beginning to lose count of them all. She'd tried on: short ones, long ones, big fluffy dresses made out of tulle, sleek dresses made out of silk and lace, dresses with long sleeves, dresses with short sleeves, spaghetti strapped dresses, and even strapless dresses.

The dress she was wearing at the moment was a strapless mermaid cut dress made out of a very light tulle and chiffon.

She could admit that this dress and all the other dresses she'd tried on were really pretty though they just didn't seem to be for her. She honestly believed that she would automatically fall in love with the right wedding dress the second she saw it.

She hadn't fallen completely in love with any of the dresses she'd tried on though, and she was sure that the saleswomen was ready to strangle her by this point.

Even though the women was smiling at Natalie and being patient with her indecisiveness. She was sure that she was annoying to have to deal with right now.

After all it had taken her almost three hours just to decide on the flower girl dress, and the brides maids dresses.

She had finally settled on a white lacy flower girl dress that had a sky blue ribbon wrapped around the waist, and long blue spaghetti strapped empire waist dresses for the bridesmaids.

She'd tried hard to find dresses that the girls would like mainly because she didn't want to be one of those brides that stuck her bridesmaids in the ugliest dress possible.

She could admit that the more dresses she tried on the more her head ached. She couldn't help but to wonder how this whole wedding planning thing had gotten so complicated.

After all when Spencer and her had first started planning the wedding they'd wanted to have just a small comfortable little wedding in their backyard with all their loved ones around them.

Once her family had started trying to help and pay for everything their small little backyard wedding had grown into a huge church wedding with every single branch, root. and splinter of her family tree being invited.

Someone once told her a long time ago that weddings were more for the family and the guests, than the bride and the groom. She now completely agreed with that.

Natalie sighed as she walked out of the dressing room again turning to face herself in the mirror. She heard her grandmother speak up. "So what do you think about this one"?

"I don't know it's kind of low cut isn't it"? Natalie asked staring at the A Line beaded chiffon dress she was now wearing.

She knew that she didn't really have what would be considered all that much cleavage. After all she was barely a very small C cup, but this dress made her breasts more than a little noticeable.

"Well don't you think Reid will really like that one then"? She heard Garcia ask trying hard not to giggle at how pink Natalie's face had gotten when she heard this.

Natalie's face got even darker once she realized that her grandmother had heard this comment.

She was sure that her grandmother would like to believe that Spencer and Natalie's relationship was completely innocent, but Natalie knew that one look at all the lingerie she had acquired would probably disprove that belief.

Natalie managed to clear her throat speaking up ignoring her blush and thanking god her grandmother hadn't said anything about Garcia's comment. "I don't think I should be showing this much cleavage in a church. I think I may need something a bit less uh......revealing".

Natalie couldn't help but to smile a little as she walked out of the dressing room once again. Emily spoke up not missing the look on Natalie's face. "So I'm guessing you love this one"?

She nodded her head feeling her smile grow wider as she looked into the mirror. The dress was long and flowing, it was made out of a soft white silk and lace. It had thin lace straps and it wasn't too terribly low cut. It was perfect.

She did a quick turn admiring the dress completely getting the feeling that she never wanted to take it off.

She knew she had too though so she reluctantly went back to the dressing room taking the dress off and changing back into her clothes.

She managed to fill out all the paperwork and write down her size and measurements before she handed them over to the saleswomen.

Natalie gave her a friendly smile as she took a card from one of the saleswomen that stated when she could come pick up her dress.

Natalie and her grandmother walked out the door before she heard Garcia speak up from behind her. "So you'll be at my place next Saturday at noon right"?

She frowned almost wondering what she was talking about but then it hit her. Her bridal shower. She had been so busy with the planning that she had almost forgotten about her own bridal shower.

She smiled nodding her head as she spoke. "Yeah I'll see you there".

She made it to her brand new car that Spencer had insisted she get. He claimed that he didn't want her driving around in anything that he deemed as unsafe since her accident.

The car wasn't anything too special it was just a little plain white car. Though Spencer had made sure it came with more airbags than she probably needed and a gps.

All she had to do now was drop her grandmother off at the hotel her dad had rented some rooms in for her whole family. It was one of those hotels for long term stays so it had little kitchens in the rooms along with the usual bed and bathroom.

She was more than ready to get home to Spencer now that they had the house all to themselves.

* * *

By the time Natalie had made it home she was more than ready to collapse onto the couch and never get up again, well at least to sit as long as she possibly could.

She did just that making her way though the front door and plopping down on the couch beside Spencer.

He gave her a soft smile as he saw her making sure to reach down and shut a file that he'd been filling out before she came in.

She spoke up staring down at the file. "You don't have to stop working you know"?

He shrugged as he leaned over and kissed her cheek. "That's okay. I'm already done with it. All I have to do is turn it in when I go back to work Monday".

She nodded her head almost wishing that he never had to go back. She could admit that what he did for a living kept her up late almost every night that he was gone.

She knew that she could never make him trade his job in for a regular nine to five job though. It wouldn't be fair for her to make a decision like that for him and he wouldn't be happy with a normal job.

They sat there in complete silence for a few minutes before she spoke up. "I was thinking about the whole thing with your mom".

He turned his head looking at her knowing exactly what she was talking about. His mother wouldn't be able to attend the wedding.

The hospital had said that there was no way that he could just check her out for the wedding and then have her readmitted. He could admit that this fact upset him.

She was his mother and she meant the world to him. He obviously wanted her there on the most important day of his life.

Natalie reached up pressing her hand to his cheek noticing the upset look on his face. "I was thinking that we could get someone to video tape the wedding for us so we could send it too your mom with some pictures. They could video tape the reception too. You know things that your mom would want to see like our first dance and us cutting the cake. Does that sound like something you think we should do? I mean do you think she would really like that"?

He smiled leaning over and pressing a deep kiss to her lips. "I love that idea and I know my mom will too. I hope you know I'm going to dance like a dork on our first dance though".

"Hey your getting better at dancing. I mean we've been practicing a lot right"? She stated finally removing her hand from his cheek.

He nodded his head running his hand along her bandaged arm. "Yeah I know. At least your going to be getting this thing off before the wedding".

"Yeah thank god for that. I know it sounds really vain but I hate the fact that I'm going to have a scar there". She stated letting out a frustrated sigh.

"It's not vain. You've just been though a lot and your still having a hard time dealing with all that. Just try not to focus on it too much". He stated reaching out and running his hand through her hair pushing her bangs out of her eyes.

She sighed shaking her head "I know I don't know how long it's going to take me to get over some of this. I mean I know I can't completely get over it, but I want things to be better".

"They'll get better. Just don't worry about it. Just focus on the fact that were getting married and before you know it we'll be on some beach somewhere enjoying our honeymoon". He stated pressing a quick kiss to her forehead.

She smiled thinking about their honeymoon. They had decided that they would go to Hawaii for their honeymoon. They were paying for it even though her dad had tried to pay for that as well.

It didn't seem right though since he was already paying for the wedding and the reception. They were trying to get him to save money in every way they could.

Like the fact that they had gotten a good price on the ballroom that their reception was being held in because they were also spending their wedding night there. It helped that there had been a cancellation at the ballroom that they had needed to fill.

She leaned over resting her hand on his shoulder trying hard to relax and focus on the fact that they would be married soon and all this wedding planning stress would disappear.


	30. The Cake Debate and An Idea

**Disclaimer remains the same.**

**Please do review.**

Chapter Thirty: The Cake Debate and An Idea

Brain Donovan let out an annoyed huff as he took a sip from his coffee cup. He laid it down on the coffee table in front of him as he stared over at his youngest child.

"But Princess I don't understand why on earth you would want that cake out of all the cakes we saw today"?

Natalie let out a sigh not surprised to hear this reaction from her father. She knew that he would react like this.

She also knew what the next words out of his mouth would be so she wasn't surprised when she heard him speak up not giving her a chance to answer his question. "Don't Spencer and you want something more attractive than that thing"?

She shrugged as she stared down at the open bridal magazine that she had sitting out on the coffee table. She knew that the cake Spencer and she had finally decided on was nothing special.

It was just a plain old white three tier cake with a few white tiny sugar flowers along the rim of the bottom tier.

It wasn't bombarded with colorful flowers and it had no special designs. There was really nothing too special about it. They really didn't see the point in getting an extravagant cake if it was just going to be eaten.

She finally spoke up finally looking up from the magazine as she took a sip of tea from her own coffee cup. "Because we just want to keep it simple".

Brain shook his head placing his hand on his only daughters knee. "Natalie angel you don't have to settle for something so plain. Spencer and you both know I wouldn't have a problem paying for something more. In fact I'd be thrilled to give you something nicer".

She did her best to give him a cheerful smile despite the fact that both Spencer and she already felt a little guilty about the fact that her father was practically just throwing money at them.

She knew though that even with Spencer's and her salaries both combined that they couldn't really afford a really nice wedding. Seeing that a government employ didn't exactly make a huge salary and things at the antique shop had been sort of slow lately.

She bit her bottom lip as she sat her coffee cup down on it's coaster. "It's really what we want dad. We both really like this cake really I promise. And please don't start trying to talk me out of the grooms cake either. Spence really just wants a plain little chocolate cake".

Her father let out another huff reluctantly giving into her. He had at least won her over on his idea of getting chocolate covered strawberries to go along with the cakes.

Natalie did her best to hide the tired yawn that was threatening to work it's way out of her mouth. She couldn't help it do since she was truly completely exhausted.

She had spent all day with her father running little errands that included going by the florists and making sure all the flower orders went though correctly and that they would be ready in less than five weeks.

Then they'd had to go by the photographers to write a check and make sure that they would get a decent amount of pictures at both the wedding and the reception for a good price.

The final stop they had made was at the cake shop where they'd spent what seemed like an eternity trying all the different flavor combinations of cake and icing flavors.

Even though that had been at least two hours ago her father was still trying to talk her into getting a more extravagant cake.

Spencer was supposed to be here today to help her with the whole cake thing, but he'd been called away a few nights ago on a case and he still wasn't back yet.

She wished that he was here right now to help her talk her dad into not spending his entire life savings on the wedding and the reception not to mention the rehearsal dinner.

He was still trying to talk them into going to an actual restaurant for their rehearsal dinner.

Spencer and her had already decided though that they were just going have the rehearsal dinner at their house and that they would buy enough premade lasagna, bread, and salad kits to feed their friends and all her relatives.

She had successfully talked him into just getting a buffet for the reception since it would be cheaper than a multiple course meal. She had also finally convinced him that just using a rented stereo system and some of their own cds would be way cheaper than his original plan of hiring a live band or a DJ.

Even though she had won him over on all those things she still was developing a major headache. It didn't help that she was worried about Spencer as she always was when he was away for something like this.

She always had her fears when he was gone so far away on cases. Her worst fear was that she would get a phone call that he'd been hurt or even worst that he was dead.

She would be lying if she tried to say that these fears hadn't kept her up many nights and given her several unpleasant nightmares.

Her father finally spoke as he looked down at his rolex watch. "I better get going. Your grandmother's probably wondering where I am".

She nodded her head letting him out of the front door and once again letting him know that she really was just fine with the cake choices.

She let out a sigh as she closed the door behind her knowing that she would have no problem falling asleep tonight.

* * *

Natalie shot up in bed and grabbed her book off her beside table fully ready to launch it as she heard her bedroom door shut and a crash followed by a low voice cursing repetitively.

She turned on the lamp by her bed so she could see who she was aiming for, but quickly lowered her hand as she saw a very tired looking Spencer.

She bit her bottom lip trying not to laugh as she realized that he was holding one of his legs up and clutching his knee still cursing a little.

He gave her an apologetic look as he noticed that he'd startled her. "Sorry I ran into the dresser. I should have called and told you that I was coming home".

"Well why didn't you just turn a light on"? She asked raising her eyebrows a little as she noticed that a few things had fallen off the dresser and he was now attempting to pick them up off the floor.

"I didn't want to wake you". He stated as he picked up a picture frame laying it gently back on their dresser.

She shook her head a little as she patted his side of the bed. "Come on Spence it's late. I'll clean that stuff up tomorrow".

He nodded his head managing to step over the clutter on the floor and change into his blue fleece pajamas before he slipped into his side of the bed.

She gave him a kiss on the cheek happy that he was safe and home. She started to pull back but was stopped as he quickly turned to kiss her lips.

They kissed for a long while not even pulling back for air. He placed his hands on her hips gently pulling her over into his lap before letting his hands begin to wonder up her sides underneath her blue sleep shirt.

She placed her hands on top of his before he managed to pull her shirt up too high. She pulled away from the kiss as she spoke. "Hey slow down".

He nodded his head feeling his cheeks darken. "Sorry I got a little carried away. I just really missed you".

He felt his cheeks flush a little darker as soon as he realized that his body was showing just how carried away he'd gotten.

He knew that she felt it too since she pulled back off of him feeling her cheeks darken a little as well.

She spoke up feeling a little embarrassed that she was bringing this up now since she'd wanted to talk about this much sooner. "Uh Spence can I ask you to do me a favor"?

"Yeah sure what"? He stated attempting to stop the need to pull her back closer too him.

She shook her head a little sighing still feeling embarrassed. "It's really stupid but I was kind of thinking that maybe we could wait to you know......have sex until the wedding night. I mean I know it obviously wont be our first time or anything like that, but I was just thinking it may make it more exciting and special for us if we waited until then".

He tried hard not to let out a disappointed sigh as he heard this. He could admit that having to wait frustrated him a little since they hadn't made love since before her accident. Mainly because he'd been scared of hurting her since she was till healing.

He could tell though that this was obviously important to her so he ignored the voice screaming at him in the back of his head to just kiss her already. "Okay we can wait".

She smiled embracing him in a tight hug pulling away as soon as she realized that she might just might be making things a little more difficult for him considering what they'd just been doing.

"Thanks Spence. I've been thinking about this for a while and I'm glad that your willing to do this. I just want our honeymoon to be perfect for the both of us. I was kind of scared that you'd think it was stupid since you know.......we're pretty active in that area of our relationship".

Spencer did his best to give her a reassuring smile. He just hoped that their honeymoon would live up to their expectations.

He was going to do his best to make sure that it did. He had already made sure that he wouldn't get any work calls while they were gone, and that they would have time to relax just the two of them.

He gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek as he spoke "It's not stupid. It's okay really. I mean I love you and theres way more to our relationship than just a physical thing. I just hope we can make it five weeks without giving in".

She smiled managing to move over to her side of the bed. "I love you too Spence. Look at it this way it wont be too bad. I mean it's really only less than five weeks and we can still make out and fool around and all that good stuff. We just can't go all the way".

He nodded his head not helping but to hope that it would be as easy as she said it would be.


	31. The Shower and Thoughts of A Family

**Disclaimer remains the same.**

**Please do review. Theres only a few more chapters of this story left and I am planning on doing a sequel to this. **

Chapter Thirty One: The Shower and Thoughts of a Family

Natalie pulled her hair back into a messy bun as she took a quick glance in the mirror in front of her staring at her fiancées sleepy reflection.

It was almost eleven am and he still hadn't bothered to get out of bed. Not that she would really expect him to since he seemed extra exhausted lately.

In between dealing with the wedding planning and the demands of the BAU, he was completely wearing himself out. She hoped that maybe the honeymoon would give him a chance to relax a little bit.

She spoke up still staring at his reflection as she began to apply her make up. "So are you sure that really don't want to go with me. Garcia said that your more than welcome".

He frowned shaking his head as he heard this offer. "No thanks. I'm pretty sure that the bridal shower is more of a girl thing".

She nodded her head smiling a little knowing that Spencer Reid alone in a room full of his female co workers and a couple of random women that worked for her might be sort of a amusing sight.

She spoke up glancing over at him. "Okay then killjoy enjoy laying in bed all day and please try to get some sleep".

He rolled his eyes as he heard her newly given nickname for him.

Natalie was almost tempted to bring up the fact that she would be receiving gifts meant for the two of them at this shower, but she quickly decided to just let him have his way.

She made her way over to the bed frowning as she reached behind her attempting to zip up her yellow sun dress. She let out a frustrated sigh as she plopped down on the bed. "Can you get this stupid thing up".

Spencer nodded his head attempting not to show how amused he was over the fact that she was getting so frustrated over a zipper.

He finally managed to zip up her dress as he spoke. "So only five more weeks huh"?

"Yeah. I just hope we can get everything done in time. There seems like theres so much left to do". She stated going over a quick list in her head.

They still had to call the caterer and make the final decision about what they wanted served at the reception, she had to pick up her dress and find somewhere where she could hide it without having to worry about Spencer seeing it, and someone had to pick up the rings by the end of the week.

She let out a sigh of relief as she heard Spencer speak up. "Is there anything that I can get done while your gone today"?

She turned around embracing him in a tight hug. "Yeah thanks, you can call the caterer and tell them that we want the buffet with the shell fish and the chicken. Then you can go pick up the rings".

He nodded his head hoping that he wouldn't screw any of this up. Thanks to work he'd sadly been in and out on most of the planning and discussion concerning this wedding and at times he really had no idea what was going on.

He was pretty sure that Natalie wasn't even all that in touch with most of the planning seeing that her dad had been handling most of it since he was the one paying for it all.

Spencer spoke up managing to press a kiss to her lips as he stopped her from pulling away from her hug. "I'll do my best to make sure that it all gets finished before the wedding. Don't stress over it okay".

"Yeah thats easier said than done". She said as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Well just try to think about the fact that we'll be enjoying ourselves at some beach in just five weeks and then we can start trying for our baby". He stated grateful that his statement seemed to make her perk up a little.

She giggled shaking her head. "Spence are you sure that the world can handle a little Reid"?

"Yeah I'm sure they'll manage besides it really won't be just a little Reid. It will be a little Natalie and Reid". He said as he began to run his hand up and down her back.

To tell the truth he was more than ready to have a baby. He never thought he would ever feel that way, but ever since Natalie's miscarriage he had been putting some serious thought into starting a family.

He was pretty sure that his mother wouldn't mind having some grandchildren especially if Natalie was their mother.

His mother really did adore Natalie just because she knew that Natalie made Spencer happy.

His mother had always liked Natalie. She had liked her from the second she met a shy twelve year old Natalie when twelve year old Spencer had brought her over to his house so he could tutor her.

Spencer already knew that when they did eventually have children he wanted them to have a really good relationship with his mother and when they were old enough he wanted to take them to Bennington to visit with his mother.

He didn't want them to think that the fact that their grandmother was in mental hospital was something that they should be completely ashamed of. He wanted them to know just how amazing his mother was and he wanted them to be proud to have someone like her as a grandma.

He was proud that Diana Reid was his mother no matter how hard things had been growing up. He knew that she really did try even if she wasn't always well.

Natalie pressed a soft kiss to his lips knowing just by the look on his face that he was in deep thought about their future together.

They finally pulled away from the hug as they heard the distinct sound of their doorbell. Natalie sighed knowing that it was her grandmother.

She leaned over giving Spencer a quick kiss on the cheek as he reluctantly let go of her. "I love you. I'll be back soon".

"I love you too". He stated as he watched her leave the room before she headed downstairs towards the door.

She only hoped that they really would be able to get all this done in less than five weeks. At times she wished that they could of just gone to Vegas and had a quickie wedding on the strip. Even though she knew that if they ever did that her father would probably kill both of them for it.

She had a feeling that she may not mind taking the chance of her father murdering both of them if it meant that they wouldn't have to put up with all the stress this wedding was creating.

* * *

Natalie felt her cheeks turn a pinkish color as she opened a crisp white gift box and peered down inside of it.

She reluctantly reached inside of it and pulled out the embarrassing item for all to see, giggle and make a few remarks about Reid probably enjoying it.

She stared wide eyed at the very sheer lilac baby doll in her hands. She made a quick decision not to pull out the matching thong bottom and instead decided to pull out the purple silk kimono laying underneath the bottoms.

"Oh um thanks Penelope.......I think". She stated feeling her cheeks turn even darker as she realized that her grandmother was sitting right beside her staring at the baby doll with widened eyes.

Garcia spoke up taking a quick sip of punch from her white plastic Dixie cup. "I thought Reid and you might need that for the honeymoon".

She glanced up at Garcia seeing that she and the other girls seemed to be amused by the look on Natalie's face.

No Natalie wasn't exactly modest seeing that she had a drawer full of lingerie at home, but then again it the lingerie at home was less embarrassing considering Spencer was the only one who knew about it.

She guessed that she was just the type of person who had more confidence in the privacy of her bedroom than she had in such a public place.

She knew that Garcia meant well by the gift and she did like it. She was actually pretty sure Spencer would like it as well, but she still felt a little awkward about it.

"So Spence and you are honeymooning in Hawaii right"? JJ stated noticing Natalie's pink cheeks and deciding that this would be a good time to change the subject.

"Yeah we decide that Hawaii would be more fun than a cruise or something like that. We found a pretty nice hotel that were planning to stay in. It's near the ocean and we may try to go to the beach and take a couple of tours around the island. Well that's if Spence lets me out of the bed". Natalie said not helping but to show how excited she was about this.

Natalie may really love the snow and cold weather, but she also really loved going to the ocean. Which was slightly funny seeing that she'd grown up in Las Vegas miles and miles away from any kind of ocean.

"So Reid's actually going to go swimming in the ocean"? Emily asked trying not to giggle at the image in her head of Dr. Spencer Reid in a bathing suit, a pair of goggles ,and matching flippers.

"Yeah. He just doesn't know it yet. Don't worry I'll be sure to take plenty of photos as long as you promise not to show any of them to Morgan. Trust me I'd never hear the end of it from Spence if Morgan teased him about it".

Natalie already had the feeling that it was going to be a battle just trying to talk Spencer into actually wearing a bathing suit.

She was pretty sure that if she did somehow manage to talk him into it he would find the longest pair of swim trunks possible, a baggy t shirt, and he would pour on the sunblock.

She sometimes wished he could see what she saw when she looked at him. Every time she tried to tell him just how attractive she found him he tried to tell her that she was biased about his looks because she loved him.

Natalie smiled putting the lingerie back in its box as she was handed another gift. She opened it thankful that it wasn't another baby doll.

"Oh another casserole pan". She said trying not to show her disappointment considering this was the third glass casserole pan she'd revived.

Her grandmother smiled not noticing the look on her face. "Your Aunt Lilly bought that. She wasn't really sure what else to give you. I tried to tell her that she should just get Spencer and you some gourmet coffee or something like that since that fiancée of yours sure does love his coffee".

Natalie smiled knowing that Spencer just loving coffee didn't even begin to describe it. She actually thought that if he was deserted on a island the only things he would need would be a starbucks and a coffee supply.

She couldn't help but to wonder if people thought that Spencer and her didn't own any dishes since they'd gotten loads of pots and pans.

She had tons of gifts to open since her relatives had shipped gifts to her since they wouldn't be in DC until the week of the wedding.

They were all getting hotel rooms thankfully. As much as she loved her big family she was still worried at times that they would scare Spencer.

She knew Spencer was a little awkward when it came to socializing in big groups. Well a little awkward didn't really even begin to cover it.

She silently reminded herself that Spencer probably would really be just fine with her family and that in just five weeks they would be ready to start their lives together.


	32. Are You Sure Your Ready

**Disclaimer remains the same**

**Please do review. **

Chapter Thirty Two: Are You Sure Your Ready

JJ couldn't help but to snicker a little as she heard a frustrated sigh on the other end of the phone followed by an equally frustrated voice. "I swear to god JJ if anyone gets me anywhere close to a half clothed man I will hurt you".

JJ shook her head a little glancing across the jet at Spencer's curious glance. She knew he was perfectly aware that she was talking to his fiancée about plans for her bachelorette party.

They were thankfully on their way home from a case and they hopefully wouldn't have the chance to be called away on a case in the next two weeks.

"Oh your not any fun". JJ stated stretching a little trying to get comfortable in the seat below her.

Yes the Garcia had originally offered to plan the bachelorette party since she was the maid of honor, but Garcia had ended up needing help from JJ and Emily to pull this whole thing off.

Natalie frowned staring down at her freshly painted light pink toenails. She knew that she sounded like a prude right now, but she couldn't help it.

"I'm serious JJ. I don't want anything like........that anywhere near me. I will do anything to ensure that it doesn't happen. I'll even give you Spence's and my second born child". She stated as she closed the nail polish bottle and sat back on the sofa.

"I thought the saying was that you would give me your first born child". JJ blurted out getting a few questioning glances from Spencer and the others.

Natalie smirked a little as she spoke up completely joking. "Well see Spencer and I would give you our first born child, but we already owe it to the public library in exchange for not having to pay a fine for some overdue books".

"Oh I see. So what is it that you want to do on your last night of being single"? JJ asked trying to ignore the fact that Spencer was still staring at her like she would blurt out just what his fiancée was doing at her bacholorette party.

Spencer finally took his curious eyes away from JJ as he heard Morgan speak up. "So only two more weeks of freedom left huh"?

Spencer raised his eyebrows still not sure if he understood Morgan's avoidance of marriage.

He was having a hard time believing that in just two more weeks and he would be married. It seemed to be happening so quickly, but he knew that he was ready for it.

"Are you getting cold feet yet"? Hotch asked giving Spencer a rare smile.

Spencer shook his head shrugging. "No not yet. I'll probably start to get nervous at the ceremony though".

He already knew that he had plenty of things to worry about. There was a chance that he could forget the rings, or trip at the altar, or he could end up forgetting his vows.

There were tons of things that could go wrong at the reception as well. He could trip while they were dancing and fall straight into the cake, or he could end up choking on his food, or getting food poisoning from his food, or he could end up stepping on her dress and ripping it.

Okay so fine some of these fears were a little irrational and probably didn't have that big of a chance of actually happening, but they still bothered him.

He was worried about another thing as well. A thing that could very well happen. Her mother could show up even though she wasn't invited. She could show up and she could interrupt the wedding and give an objection to it.

"Hey kid talk to me. What's going on in there"? Morgan asked not helping but to notice the worried look on Spencer's face.

Spencer sighed knowing that he would feel better if he just got it all out in the open. "I'm just worried that Natalie's mom is going to show up".

Morgan frowned feeling a little confused as he heard this. "Natalie's mother isn't invited to the wedding"?

Spencer swallowed the lump that was beginning to develop in the back of his throat as he heard this. He wasn't exactly sure how he could explain this.

It wasn't like he could just blurt out the fact that Natalie's mother was a drunk who beat the living crap out of her youngest child.

He instead made up a quick excuse as he spoke up. "Natalie's mother and her don't get along".

"Well if they don't get along then her mom probably will be a no show right"? Morgan asked even though he could clearly tell that Spencer was lying just by the look in his eyes.

"Yeah your probably right". Spencer stated quickly wishing that he fully believed that.

* * *

It was dark by the time Spencer made it home and thankfully Natalie had only locked one of the locks so he didn't have to stand there and mess with his keys for way too long in the pouring rain.

He made sure that their front and their back door had several locks on them along with a new state of the art security system.

At first he had worried that he was being a bit irrational making their house almost overly secure, but he didn't think anyone could blame him for it. If anybody had to have his job they would understand why he was so worried about Natalie, and his safety.

He wasn't surprised to find Natalie fast asleep once he made it to their bedroom. He somehow managed to change into his pajamas put his dirty damp clothing in the hamper, and climb into bed beside her without making too much noise.

He wasn't surprised that she woke up as soon as he wrapped his arm around her waist. She turned over connecting her eyes with his as she spoke. "I didn't hear you come in".

He pressed a soft kiss to her cheek not saying anything in response. She raised her eyebrows as she reached over and turned on a bedside lamp.

She couldn't help but to notice the look on his face as she turned back over to face him. She decided to ignore it though as she spoke up. "So I think I've decided what I'm doing for my bachelorette party".

He nodded remembering the overheard phone conversation he'd heard JJ having with her about that subject. He still hadn't gotten JJ to tell him exactly what Natalie had decided on so he was a little bit surprised that Natalie was bringing it up.

"Am I allowed to know what your doing"? He asked wondering if she would actually tell him or if she would insist that it was a secret like anyone else he'd asked.

"Eh I guess it wouldn't hurt. We're probably just going to go have some mixed drinks somewhere that night, but during the day were planning on going to a spa so we can get our nails done and do all that other girly stuff".

He nodded his head knowing that Natalie had probably insisted on having a tame party just like him. He knew she probably wouldn't even party all that much. Knowing her she would have one and a half fruity mixed drinks and call it a night.

She couldn't help but to notice that his worried look hadn't left his face completely. She scooted closer towards him wondering exactly what was troubling him.

"Whats wrong? I mean is it something going on at work? Was the last case really bad"? She asked as she reached up and caressed his cheek.

He moved his head over managing to press a kiss to her palm. "Cases are always bad , but at least this one ended well. Well as well as it could end I guess".

She removed her hand from his cheek and managed to scoot even closer to him trying not to shiver at the thought of what he may or may not have seen on the last case. To tell the truth after her ordeal with Alex Matthews, she really prefered not to put way too much thought into what the BAU's cases involved

"Then what is it? I know that there must be something bothering you. I can tell by the face your making".

"What face"? He questioned frowning a little as he stared back at her amused face.

She bit her bottom lip in attempts to stop herself from giggling. "The same face you always make when your worried and thinking about something way too much. Your eyes start to sort of squint and every once in a while you'll start to purse your lips".

"Oh okay". He simply stated still not sure if he believed that he made that exact face.

"So spill it what's bothering you". She asked causing him to frown a little.

He spoke up deciding just to blurt it out as he felt his stomach begin to churn. "Your mother".

He wasn't surprised to feel Natalie tense up against him as she spoke up glancing up at him with worried eyes. "Please tell me she didn't call again".

"No nothing like that. I'm just worried that she may show up to the wedding and object or you know show up at the reception and cause some kind of big scene". He stated very quickly not helping but to notice that his comment didn't cause any of the tension to leave her body.

He attempted to soothe her by rubbing her back as she finally spoke up. "I don't know what to say. I mean all we can do is just hope that she doesn't show up".

He nodded his head agreeing with her as he attempted to change the subject. "So only two more weeks left huh"?

She felt a small smile spread across her face as she spoke. "Yeah. So are you sure ready for all of this"?

"Yeah I think so". He stated without any hesitation at all.

She sighed as she spoke. "Sometimes I think that we should of just avoided all this stress and gotten married in Vegas".

"We couldn't do that. Your father said he'd kill me if I married you on the strip in Vegas". He said feeling he cheeks darken a little as he realized that this was the first time he'd actually admitted that out loud.

"Really"? She asked not helping but to wonder when her father had brought that subject up with Spencer.

"Yes really. He said in his exact words: Please just don't end up marrying Natalie at some cheap chapel on the strip. If you do it I'll kill you and make it look like an accident". He stated remembering his secret hushed conversation with her father when Reid and Natalie had dropped her family off at the airport after their last visit.

"I think it's probably better if we just go ahead with this wedding though. You did say that you've been thinking about your wedding since you were a little girl. I mean you wouldn't be happy with some quickie Vegas wedding and if your not happy then I'm not happy. Trust me were doing the right thing". He stated thankful that some of the tension seemed to be finally leaving her body.

She smiled as she pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. "I hope your right".

She managed to turn off the bedside lamp before they both finally fell asleep hoping that the next two weeks would go by without flaw.


	33. Wedding Bells and Wedding Nerves

**Disclaimer remains the same.**

**A/N: Sorry about the wait on this, but I just couldn't get my mind to corporate with me for the longest time. This is the last chapter of this portion of the story. I will be writing a sequal to this story and it will be titled: A New Life. So be looking out for it.**

Chapter Thirty Three: Wedding Bells and Wedding Nerves.

Natalie sat back on a barstool and sipped on the same martini that she had been sipping on since they'd gotten here.

She held back a giggle as she heard Emily speak up beside her ordering yet another gin and tonic. She was beginning to get the feeling that Emily was going to have the hangover from hell tomorrow if she kept it up.

She was officially three hours into her baccalaureate party and much to her pleasure she hadn't had any unpleasant surprises. Part of her felt a little bit guilty about the fact that she was being such a killjoy by insisting on such a tame party.

Then again she guessed that everyone understood. Everyone did seem to be having a pretty good time.

JJ and Garcia were both playing darts and Natalie had even joined them for a couple of games. Emily had gone back and forth from visiting with some of Natalie's employees and drinking as many mixed drinks as she could order.

Natalie did her best to gently lay down her martini glass on the polished bar below her. She was having a bit of trouble doing things with longer nails.

The only thing she usually did to her nails was make sure that they were filed down short and painted. She never really got manicures, but today she had been treated to the full spa treatment.

Which meant she had been given a pedicure and had her toenails painted a cheerful looking rosy pink. She had received a French manicure though her nails weren't very long at all. She had been given a facial and some kind of sea salt scrub that was supposed to make her skin more silky.

She had gone though getting her legs and other more personal places waxed. To tell the truth the whole waxing experience had left her feeling as though she should just stick with razors and shaving cream from now on.

The only times she had seen Spencer was once this morning and again earlier tonight at the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner.

Seeing him only twice simply wasn't enough. She was trying to ignore the need to sneak away to the hotel room he was staying in for tonight though she knew that her family would murder them if they broke away from tradition.

She would just have to live with the fact that she couldn't see him until tomorrow, no matter how difficult it was to accept it.

* * *

Spencer stared down at his cell phone as he debated texting or maybe even calling Natalie. He was seriously starting to resent this whole traditional night before the wedding thing that Natalie and he had agreed to.

Being away from her tonight was going to be the death of him. Sure he had been away from her for longer periods of time than just a night, but it had only been when he was working.

He obviously wasn't working tonight though so it really didn't seem fair that he had to sleep all alone in a hotel room. Especially when Natalie was so close back at home. All he would have to do was sneak back home and he could be with her.

It couldn't be too hard for him to sneak over to Natalie. He knew he couldn't do that though and that fact drove him a little crazy.

He had only seen her twice today and it didn't seem like it was enough. He was almost tempted to somehow sneak out of his hotel room and sneak off to Vegas with Natalie so they could have a quicky wedding no matter what the consequences may be.

He knew that they couldn't get away with that though no matter how tempting it was.

He looked up from his cell phone as he heard Morgan's voice. "Hey Reid are you going to stare at your cell phone all night or show us your cards"?

Spencer felt his cheeks flush as soon as he realized that the card game had ended already. He usually always won at cards, but tonight he was too distracted to actually win or even cheat at the game.

He ignored the knowing look of the other five men at the table as he showed his cards. Ethan had flown in early this morning but he would have to leave the day after the wedding.

Hotch spoke up noticing the look on Spencer's face. "Dont worry Reid after tomorrow you wont even remember why you were so worked up over all of this".

Spencer nodded his head hoping that he was right.

Hotch, Morgan, Ethan, and Spencer's future brother and law and father in law were all crammed into Spencer's tiny hotel room.

Spencer managed to speak up still ignoring their looks. "So does anyone want to play again? I'll deal".

Thankfully tonight had been extremely tame, and Spencer was grateful for that fact. He just hoped that Morgan wouldn't pull anything as the night went on.

The night had been spent mostly playing cards and drinking.

Everyone except for Spencer had drank more than one drink. Spencer was trying to keep as clear headed as possible so he would be ready for tomorrow.

He couldn't think of anything more unpleasant than having to fiend off a hangover during his own wedding.

Spencer stared down at his watch knowing that in just a few short hours he could talk everyone into leaving his room so he could get some sleep.

The sooner he went to sleep the sooner tomorrow would come. He only hoped it would come as soon as possible.

* * *

Natalie would be lying if she tried to say that she wasn't anxious, but then again wasn't every bride supposed to be anxious on her wedding day.

She sat in one of the back rooms of the chapel with the girls attempting to get ready. She just had about two more hours until the ceremony was supposed to start.

She had already had her makeup done and her hair had been loosely curled and neatly pinned in place. She had opted to leave her hair down knowing that it would be easier to undo at the hotel tonight.

Natalie ran her hand across the locket around her neck attempting to relax. Everyone had tried to talk her into wearing a different piece of jewelry today, but she hadn't listened.

Any other necklace, but the locket wouldn't have felt right to wear today. The locket held Spencer and her past, their present, and today was the start of their future.

She did her best to give JJ a calm smile and thank her as she took a cup of hot tea from her hands. She took a sip from the cup praying that her hands weren't shaking too much.

"My mother isn't out there right"? Natalie blurted out as she took another sip of tea.

She hadn't told anyone exactly why she didn't want her mother there, but she had been sure to describe her to all the girls so they could spot her if they saw her.

"No I haven't seen her" Emily said not helping but to wonder what Natalie's mother was like and why she wasn't invited to her only daughter's wedding.

Then again Emily knew how her own relationship with her mother was. So she probably didn't have the room to be questioning other peoples relationships with their mothers.

JJ returned Natalie's smile before speaking up. "If it relaxes your mood any I just got through swinging by the guys room and Spence is way more anxious than you. I'm actually pretty sure he's the most anxious person in this building".

Natalie widened her eyes as she heard this. She spoke up muttering "You know I could probably calm the both of us down a little if you guys would just give my cell phone back to me. Besides it's really not fair that everyone gets to see him except for me".

Garcia spoke up as she sat an eyeliner pencil down. "Sorry sweetness, but your grandmother told us to make sure that you didn't have any contact of any kind with Reid until you've walked down that aisle. We already caught you trying to text him so you don't get your cell back until after the wedding"

Natalie sighed as she sat the tea cup down on the makeup counter in front of her. She grumbled under her breath damning her families insistence on keeping everything so traditional.

She stopped her grumbling when her grandmother entered the room carrying Natalie's dress by the hanger and attempting to keep Natalie's niece from getting her flower girls dress dirty.

"We better get you into this. We don't have that much time left to get everybody ready before the ceremony". Her grandmother stated quickly ignoring her granddaughter's pestered look.

Natalie managed to let her grandmother give her a gentle kiss on the cheek and take her shaking hands as she stood up. She only hoped that her nerves would calm soon since she didn't want to be a shaking mess when Spencer saw her walking down the aisle.

* * *

Spencer cursed under his breath as he failed at getting his tie tied perfectly once again. It was almost nearly impossible with the way his hands were shaking and sweating.

He looked up from his tie as Natalie's father patted him on the back and spoke. "Don't worry I was just as nervous on my wedding day".

Spencer did his best to give him a comfortable smile though all he could really think about was making it through today without messing anything up way too much.

Morgan picked this as the perfect time to speak up trying hard not to laugh as he spoke. "Yeah don't worry kid. Just make sure you don't fain like you did at rehearsal last night and you'll be fine".

"Hey I didn't faint. I just got a little weak in the knees". Spencer blurted out feeling his cheeks beginning to grow a little pink.

He let out a shaky frustrated sigh ignoring Morgan's snickers behind him. Thankfully Morgan hadn't tried to tease him today, well not way too much anyway.

He had a feeling though that Morgan would really let him have it as soon as he came home after the honeymoon and went back to work.

Yes he had come close to fainting at the rehearsal the night before, but he really couldn't help it. There was just something about seeing Natalie walk down the aisle that had gotten to him emotionally. Never mind the fact that she had been wearing a lilac sun dress that she had worn in front of him at least a dozen times.

He guessed it was just because it seemed as though Natalie and him and been waiting for this moment forever.

If anyone had told him back when he was sixteen years old that he'd be marrying the girl next door that he had a huge crush on, he would have probably quickly walked away fearing that this person was having a mental breakdown right in front of him.

The only thing that had gone wrong so far was his shirt, well actually it was a stain on his crisp white dress shirt.

Of course he should have been expecting to drop some jam from his toast on his brand new shirt this morning. He was Dr. Spencer Reid what else should he have expected. He would have been even more worried if everything had gone perfectly today.

Spencer didn't even remember why he'd decided that it would be a good idea to eat something right before he left for the church and while he was already in his suit none the less.

He guessed he'd just convinced himself that eating something would calm his stomach. It had only done the opposite though.

He felt nauseous. He knew it had to be nerves even though the voice in back of his head was trying to convince him that he had food poisoning. Which was impossible since they'd had their rehearsal dinner at home and all it had been were tons of premade lasagnas.

He had just been thankful it had been enough to feed all of Natalie's relatives. He couldn't even count how many relatives he'd met so far.

Spencer was just lucky enough to have another white dress shirt to wear in replacement of his now grape jelly stained shirt.

He somehow managed to finally tie his tie successfully without it looking too bad. He ran his hands through his hair trying to flatten it the best he could.

All he could think about was making everything perfect today. This was probably the one day that they would remember from the rest of their lives.

Their children and their grandchildren and maybe even their great grandchildren would see these wedding photos and maybe even see the videos. So it had too look amazing.

Spencer was quickly taken out of his worries as he felt Morgan pat him on the back a little bit harder than he would have preferred. "Come on kid it's time".

He widened his eyes realizing that Natalie's father had already left the room obviously to go get his daughter.

Natalie's brother had left as well obviously to get out to the front pew so he could tape the ceremony on his video camera.

They were planning on making three copies of the tape. One for them, one for Natalie's father, and one for Spencer's mother

He did his best to shake all the hands that were offered to him before he made his way out of the back room trying to keep his legs steady.

* * *

Natalie did her best to keep a relaxed smile on her face as she heard the piano begin to play the bridal chorus.

They hadn't had a brides pews and a grooms pews mainly because Natalie couldn't stand the idea of her side being so much fuller than his side. The thought of her side being full and his side being almost empty depressed her actually. So they had just decided to let people sit in whatever pews they wanted.

She was sure if she wasn't gripping on the her father's arm she may have began to run down the aisle instead of walk at a calm slow pace.

She amazingly felt a little bit more at ease as soon as she locked eyes with Spencer. She couldn't describe the exact look on his face. All she knew was that she couldn't look anywhere else.

He looked perfect. He had actually gone out and bought a simple black tux to match the groomsmen. He was wearing a gold and navy tie though just to be diffrent from the other black ties in the room.

The look on his face was a mixture of anxiousness, excitement, love, and contentment. She was sure that she had the exact same look on her face right at this moment.

The first word that popped up in Spencer's mind the second he saw Natalie was beautiful. She looked serene and almost angelic. The veil she wore matched the lace of her dress and she had worn white strappy high heels which she was sure would kill her feet later.

Spencer was grateful to see that Natalie's hands were shaking just as much as his when her father placed her hand in his before leaning down and kissing her cheek.

Spencer and Natalie both managed to mouth a silent 'I love you' to each other before the reverend spoke up beginning the long sermon.

They had both decided to keep with the old fashioned dearly beloved we are gathered here today vows. It was amazing though how neither of them really heard too much of it and Spencer kept on having to ask the reverend to repeat certain things just in case he misheard him.

Spencer felt his heart begin to beat a little bit harder as he clearly heard the reverend to say his vows.

Spencer spoke up hoping that his voice didn't sound too shaky. "I, Spencer, take you Natalie, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part".

Natalie gave his hand a gentle squeeze as she did her best to speak "I, Natalie, take you Spencer, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part"

They somehow both managed to get lost in the moment once again until they were asked to exchange their simple silver wedding bands and to say their I dos.

Natalie could admit that she defiantly felt a few tears of joy begin to make their ways out of the corner of her eyes as she heard the reverend finally speak up. "By the power invested in me by the District Of Columbia I now pronounce you man and wife you may kiss the bride".

The two locked lips for what seemed like an eternity. Natalie wrapped her arms around him the best she could managing to rest one hand on the back of his neck. Spencer wrapped both of his arms gently around her waist.

The two didn't break apart until they heard Garcia's amused voice. "Hey my little lovebirds I think he meant one kiss not one make out session".

Spencer felt his cheeks darken a little as he attempted to ignore that comment. He was beginning to worry that Morgan was rubbing off on Garcia when it came to the embarrass Spencer Reid business.

Natalie did manage to lean over and press a quick kiss to his cheek before the reverend spoke up once again. "I now present you for the very first time Dr. and Mrs. Reid".

Spencer and Natalie couldn't help but to smile as they heard this. They had the feeling this was defiantly the beginning of a new exciting life and they couldn't wait.


End file.
